Multifunctional SiCf/ZrC-TiC ceramic foam with outstanding thermal stability: synergistic broadband electromagnetic wave absorption, load-bearing, and thermal insulation

Functional ceramic foams are promising candidate materials that integrate electromagnetic absorption, load-bearing, thermal insulation, and thermal stability, to meet the challenges of extreme environments in modern aerospace technology. In this study, SiC fiber has been introduced in the ZrC-TiC ceramic foam to enhance the mechanical properties and electromagnetic wave absorption performance. The SiC f /ZrC-TiC ceramic foam has been fabricated by a simple precursor self-foaming method with a porosity of 76.9% and a density of 0.31 g/cm 3 . The interconnection of SiC fibers endows SiC f /ZrC-TiC ceramic foam with excellent load-bearing capacity with a compressive strength of 41.3 MPa. Meanwhile, the introduction of SiC fiber boost its electromagnetic wave absorption performance with a RL min  = −63.5 dB and EAB max  = 6.04 GHz. The high porosity endows it with a low thermal conductivity advantage of 0.231 W·m −1 ·K −1 . Particularly, SiC f /ZrC-TiC ceramic foam exhibit outstanding high-temperature stability. After 10 thermal cycles at 1600 °C, the compressive strength remained at 30.7 MPa, and the EAB max was 5.28 GHz (RL min  = −57.2 dB). The multifunctional synergistic advantages of SiC f /ZrC-TiC ceramic foams provide a feasible strategy for the design of multifunctional protective materials in aerospace.