Hierarchical carbon nanowires network modified PDCs-SiCN with improved microwave absorption performance

In order to optimize the dielectric performance of polymer derived SiCN ceramics (PDCs-SiCN), carbon nanowires (CNW) were deposited in SiCN by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD). Microstructure evolutions, dielectric property and electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption capacity of CNW/SiCN were investigated. Results show that carbon nanowires had plentiful pits/defects on their roughened surface and formed hierarchical network in SiCN which benefited the impedance match and generated strong conductivity and polarization loss, enhancing the absorption ability of CNW/SiCN. When CNW accounted for 5.61 wt%, RCmin reached −51 dB with EAB of 3.0 GHz at 2.7 mm in thick, showing excellent microwave absorbing performance. The favorable microwave absorption ability could be ascribed to three aspects including enhanced conductivity loss derived from the excellent conductivity of CNW, polarization loss generated by defects, and multiple reflection loss enhanced by hierarchical network. By comparing the variation tendency between defect concentration and electrical conductivity in CNW/SiCN, it is rational to conclude that the conductivity loss dominated the dielectric loss while the polarization loss and repeated multi-reflection simultaneously worked. This work can be further extended to study regarding the effect of heat-treatment temperature since CNW have the potential to promote the crystallization process of amorphous PDCs thereby improving their dielectric properties.