Synergy of resonance tailorable BaM and porous RGO aerogel for efficient microwave-infrared compatible stealth

Abstract

Explorations have revealed multiphasic tactic as indispensable in tailoring the multispectral stealth performance of aerogel materials. This is enabled by the ingenious collocation of aerogel matrix and exotic attachments. Barium ferrite (BaM) is a versatile attachment due to the tunable magnetic property and distinguished thermal regulation ability. This study designed firstly the rare earth (RE) modified BaM into the hierarchical reduced graphene oxide (RGO) aerogel skeletons, engineered through the allocation of sol-gel route and self-assembling process. The formation of La/Y-modified BaM phase (in nanoscale) and BaM@RGO frameworks (in micrometer scale) subtly reconciled the intricate microwave loss mechanisms as well as facilitated the excellent thermal insulation. Results reveal the dopants of La/Y dramatically modulated the magneto-crystalline anisotropy of BaM and shifted the natural resonance frequency to the X band, with the as-filled complexing aerogel performing an exceptional effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 7.7 GHz under merely 2.2 mm. Moreover, as a natural thermal insulator, the BaM contributed to an ulterior enhancement in boosting the outstanding infrared stealth (~38.6 °C from 136 °C) for the complexing aerogel. This distinctive aerogel featuring efficient microwave-infrared compatible stealth illuminate new pathways to design multispectral functional materials suitable for complicated electromagnetic environments.