Broadband electromagnetic wave absorption properties of RGO cement-based composite

Abstract

In this study, a cement-based composite was prepared using reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as a raw material via an ethanol liquid-phase mixing pre-dispersion process. The microstructure of cement-based composites with varying RGO contents was discussed, and a systematic investigation was conducted into the electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA) performance of RGO-cement composites within the frequency range of 2–18 GHz. The results indicate that the RGO content significantly impacts its wave absorption performance. Notably, at an RGO content of 3.0 wt%, the wave absorption performance experiences substantial enhancement. For instance, the minimum reflection loss (RL_min) of −48.33 dB at 8.9 GHz with a coating thickness of 2.6 mm is achieved, while an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 5.02 GHz is attained with a thickness of only 1.6 mm, covering nearly the entire Ku-band. The incorporation of high specific surface area RGO into cement materials results in abundant interface polarization losses and additional electromagnetic wave transmission paths, effectively boosting the EWA performance. Consequently, these materials exhibit significant potential for applications in the field of electromagnetic wave shielding.

Keywords:

• Electromagnetic wave absorption
• reduced graphene oxide
• cement-based composites
• reflection loss
• effective absorption bandwidth

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China General Project (51578448, 52272089), National Natural Science Youth Fund Project (51308447), Shaanxi Province Outstanding Youth Science Foundation (2021JC-43), Shaanxi Province Natural Science Basic Research Program-Major Basic Research Project (2017ZDJC-18) and Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department (Grant/Award Number: 20JY042).