Comparison of the EMWA Performance of Nickel Cored and Hollow Carbon Onions

Abstract

Carbon onions (CNOs) are highly desirable in the field of electromagnetic wave absorption (EMWA) due to their onion-like structure, low density and excellent conductivity. Herein nickel encapsulated CNOs were fabricated by arc discharge and then transformed into hollow ones via annealing at 900∘C. The structure and EMWA performance of the hollow and nickel encapsulated CNOs were analyzed in detail to investigate the relationship of their EMWA properties and structure. The better EMWA properties of nickel encapsulated CNOs showed that the core–shell interface contributed more EMMA in comparison to the onion-like configuration.