Tailoring conductive network Zn@NPC@MWCNTs nanocomposites derived from ZIF-8 as high-performance electromagnetic absorber for the whole X-Band

A porous 3D cross-linked conductive network pierced by multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was successfully designed from zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). Zn@NPC@MWCNTs composites were tailored by the facile regulating the mass ratios and thermal annealing treatment. Due to the combination of less eddy current loss and dielectric loss together with multiple reflection attenuation caused by a unique structure. With a 10 wt% filler loading, the Zn@NPC@MWCNTs composites carbonized at 800 °C show two high reflection loss (RL) values with different thicknesses. An RL value is −53.18 dB with 4.09 mm thickness in the C-Band (4–8 GHz), and a minimum RL can reach −74.83 dB (10.8 GHz) with a matching thickness of 2.749 mm. The effective absorption bandwidth is 4 GHz (from 8 to 12 GHz, RL ≤ −10 dB), which just covers the full X-band. Low cost and easy preparation can also provide advantages to develop MOF-based materials as effective EMW absorbents.