Design and Preparation of Flexible Graphene/Nonwoven Composites with Simultaneous Broadband Absorption and Stable Properties

Abstract

As the world moves into the 21st century, the complex electromagnetic wave environment is receiving widespread attention due to its impact on human health, suggesting the critical importance of wearable absorbing materials. In this paper, graphene nonwoven (RGO/NW) composites were prepared by diffusely distributing graphene sheets in a polypropylene three-dimensional framework through Hummers’ method. Moreover, based on the Jaumann structural material design concept, the RGO/NW composite was designed as a multilayer microwave absorber, with self-recovery capability. It achieves effective absorption (reflection loss of −10 dB) in the 2~18 GHz electromagnetic wave frequency domain, exhibiting a larger bandwidth than that reported in the literature for absorbers of equivalent thickness. In addition, the rationally designed three-layer sample has an electromagnetic wave absorption of over 97% (reflection loss of −15 dB) of the bandwidth over 14 GHz. In addition, due to the physical and chemical stability of graphene and the deformation recovery ability of nonwoven fabric, the absorber also shows good deformation recovery ability and stable absorption performance. This broadband absorption and extreme environmental adaptability make this flexible absorber promising for various applications, especially for personnel wearable devices.