In-situ intercalation polymerization synthesis and electromagnetic wave absorption property of graphene/PANI/CuO ternary composites

Based on in-situ intercalation polymerization of PANI, graphene/PANI/CuO ternary nanocomposites were synthesized by hydrothermal reaction at 160 °C followed by heat treatment at 280 °C. The morphology and electromagnetic wave absorption property of as-prepared products were investigated. Result shows that the physical exfoliation of graphite into graphene takes place mainly in the hydrothermal process. After hydrothermal reaction for 4 h, prolongation of the reaction time has no obvious effect on graphene exfoliation and the electromagnetic wave absorption of graphene/PANI/CuO. The synthesized graphene/PANI/CuO ternary nanocomposite is a promising candidate for electromagnetic wave absorbing. Double-layer absorbers using graphene/PANI/CuO as absorbing layer present excellent performances. Both effective absorption bandwidths of DB-1 and DB-2 exceed 10.0 GHz when the total thickness is only 3.0 mm. The maximum reflection loss for DB-1 is up to 39.4 dB at 16.1 GHz and that for DB-2 is − 47.3 dB at 11.0 GHz.