NiCo2O4 NANOCHAINS SYNTHESIS WITH EFFECTIVE MICROWAVE ABSORPTION CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

Nanochains-like NiCo2O4 material was synthesized via the hydrothermal method utilizing D-glucose template to facilitate microwave absorption across the frequency range of 2 - 18 GHz. Comprehensive characterization employing various analytical techniques was employed to investigate the structural, microstructural, magnetic, and electromagnetic properties. Leveraging the presence of Oxalic acid and D-Glucose, a nanochain morphology comprising spherical nanoparticles (400 - 600 nm) was achieved. The resultant NiCo2O4 demonstrated a single-phase structure and exhibited the reflection loss (RL) value lower than -20 dB was up to 5.9 GHz within the Ku (12 - 18 GHz) frequency band, at a matching thickness of 2.0 mm. Remarkably, the optimal reflection loss reached -52.5 dB at 15 GHz for samples with a thickness of 2.0 mm, while the widest effective bandwidth extended up to 14.1 GHz for samples with a thickness of 5.0 mm. The superior microwave absorption performance of the chains-like NiCo2O4 powders was attributed to the synergistic interplay between their dielectric and magnetic properties, facilitating excellent impedance matching. These results indicate that NiCo2O4 chains-like powders have great promise as a material for microwave absorption.