Evaluation of the size and medium effects on the microwave absorbing, magnetic, electromagnetic shielding, and optical properties using CuCo2S4 nanoparticles

The aim of this study was preparation of CuCo2S4 nanostructure using a hydrothermal method and investigation of the temperature and pressure effect on the morphology, optical, magnetic, and microwave characteristics. Furthermore, urea was applied as a precursor and its influence on the CuCo2S4 properties were scrupulously dissected. On the other hand, polystyrene (PS) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) were used to evaluate the medium effect on microwave attenuation. The prepared nanoparticles were assessed by the X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS) analyses. The analyses confirmed the effect of temperature, pressure, and urea on morphological, optical, and magnetic features as well as illustrated that pure CuCo2S4 nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized. Eventually, a vector network analyzer (VNA) demonstrated the significant microwave absorbing characteristics of the samples and confirmed that shape and medium play a vital role, paving the way for microwave attenuation. The maximum reflection loss (RL) of NPs prepared at 180 °C/PS composite was 79.37 dB at 15.42 GHz, while NPs prepared at 200 °C/PVDF achieved an efficient bandwidth as wide as 7.32 GHz (RL < −10 dB) and 2.66 GH (RL < −20). Interestingly, NPs prepared at 200 °C and treated NPs/PS illustrated total shielding effectiveness (SET) > 15 dB in entire x and ku-band frequency.