Fe3O4 nanoparticles decorated on a CuS platelet-based sphere: A popcorn chicken-like heterostructure as an ideal material against electromagnetic pollution

Abstract

Electromagnetic irradiation has caused environmental pollution and harmful effects on human health. The use of effective materials to attenuate electromagnetic energy is urgently required. In this study, Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) decorated on a CuS platelet-based sphere (CuS/Fe3O4) with popcorn chicken-like micromorphology were synthesized through a solvothermal deposition method. The effects of reaction temperature and quantity of Fe3O4 NPs on the heterostructures, morphologies and electromagnetic absorption (EA) properties of the heterostructures were investigated. CuS/Fe3O4 heterostructures exhibited remarkable enhancement in comparison with pure Fe3O4 NPs and the CuS platelet-based sphere. With the contribution from dielectric and magnetic losses, a CuS/Fe3O4 heterostructure-loaded composite could achieve a minimum reflection loss (RL) of -61.32 dB at 14.00 GHz and an effective EA bandwidth (≤-10 dB) of 4.15 GHz at a thickness of only 1.5 mm simultaneously. The current study indicates that the CuS/Fe3O4 heterostructures can potentially be applied as advanced electromagnetic absorbers.