Ultralight multifunctional aerogels decorated with MOF-derivative for efficient electromagnetic wave absorption

The creation of broadband, lightweight, and extremely effective electromagnetic wave absorbers (EWA) is crucial to solving the problem of electromagnetic pollution. In this work, a surface-functionalized three-dimensional (3D) porous sugarcane aerogel with ZIF-67-derived Co/C (Co/C@SCA) was successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method and pyrolysis. The ZIF-67 loading on SCA was controlled to modulate the dielectric properties, achieving optimal impedance matching and electromagnetic attenuation. Therefore, the Co/C@SCA exhibits minimum reflection loss ( R L m i n ) of −47.02 dB at a thickness of 3.0 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth ( E A B , R L <-10 dB) of 7.20 GHz at a thickness of 4.8 mm. This outstanding performance is attributed to its three-dimensional porous framework, along with abundant heterogeneous interfaces and well-engineered surface functionalization introduced during synthesis. This work suggests a practical method for exploiting biomass waste to create innovative, high-performance, low-cost materials that absorb electromagnetic waves (EMW).