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Gelatin-derived N-doped hybrid carbon nanospheres with an adjustable porous structure for enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption

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Abstract

Eco-friendly biomass-derived absorbers with high electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing property are ideal substitutes for traditional carbon absorber coming from non-renewable fossil energy. Based on this, a kind of novel gelatin-derived N-doped hybrid carbon nanospheres with adjustable porous structure (PGCNs) was fabricated successfully in this work by a simple desolvation method and following alkaline-activation process. By assembling precursor macromolecule to endow carbon absorber with unique tailored structure, the unstable EMW absorption performance caused by the unreproducible morphologies of most natural biomass precursors can be well avoided. Moreover, the developed porous structure on PGCNs could be tuned by changing the alkaline addition, following by the optimization of EMW absorbing performance. When loaded with 15 wt.%, the minimum reflection coefficient (RCmin) of PGCNs could reach as low as −58.03 dB at the thickness of merely 1.9 mm. The effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) was up to 6.3 GHz at the thickness of 2.2 mm. This work puts forward a new inspiration for designing repeatable structure for biomass-derived carbonaceous materials, and we believe that the as-fabricated PGCNs could be potential candidates in future EMW absorbing application.

Graphical abstract

Gelatin-derived porous carbon nanospheres (PGCNs) were prepared firstly by desolvation and alkaline-activation process. The obtained PGCNs with highly porous structure and hybrid composition exhibited superior electromagnetic wave absorbing property such as a minimum reflection coefficient of -58.03 dB and an effective bandwidth of 6.3 GHz at the thickness of only 2.2 mm.

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Funding

The authors received support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31800802) and Innovation Capability Support Fund of Shaanxi Province (S2021-0-ZC-XXXM-0030).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    Xiaoke Lu, Dongmei Zhu, Qiang Chen & Yuchang Qing

  2. Science and Technology On Thermostructural Composite Materials Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    Xin Li & Minghang Li

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  1. Xiaoke Lu
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  2. Dongmei Zhu
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  3. Xin Li
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  4. Minghang Li
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Correspondence to Qiang Chen.

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Lu, X., Zhu, D., Li, X. et al. Gelatin-derived N-doped hybrid carbon nanospheres with an adjustable porous structure for enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption. Adv Compos Hybrid Mater 4, 946–956 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-021-00258-5

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