Synthesis of 3D flower-like ZnO/ZnCo₂O₄ composites with the heterogeneous interface for excellent electromagnetic wave absorption properties

Reasonable structure and composition are essential for electromagnetic wave absorption (EMW). Herein, ZnO hollow spheres were prepared with carbon spheres as templates and then synthesized ZnO/ZnCo₂O₄ composites by the solvothermal method and annealing treatment. The flower-like ZnCo₂O₄ material was produced by self-assembly of ZnCo₂O₄ nanosheets. The absorbing material with the complex structure has multiple scattering and reflection, conduction loss, resonance, and eddy current loss characteristics. Furthermore, the addition of ZnO hollow spheres has a significant impact on electromagnetic parameters and absorption properties. As a result, the addition of ZnO hollow spheres can greatly enhance the complex permittivity of the ZnO/ZnCo₂O₄ composites and obtain excellent EMW absorbing properties. It is worth noting that ZnO/ZnCo₂O₄ composites show the best EMW absorption properties when the ZnO hollow spheres were added up to 5 mg. The minimum reflection loss is -55.42 dB and a matching thickness of 1.99 mm while the maximum effective absorption bandwidth can also reach 7.44 GHz with a matching thickness of 2.4 mm. Our research can prove that the structure and composition have a significant influence on the properties of the absorbing material, which provides ideas for the development of absorbing materials with high-performance.