Growing dendritic SiC on 1D SiC nanowire: Enhancement of electromagnetic wave absorption performance

Dendritic nanomaterial exhibits a unique structure and an excellent performance. Silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires with dendritic structure were synthesized for the first time by using facile methods that combine electroless plating Fe with carbon thermal reduction. The dendritic SiC nanowires show an improved microwave absorption performance compared with their linear counterparts. The maximum reflection loss (RL) of these nanowires reaches −51.5 dB at a frequency of 10.3 GHz and an effective EM wave absorption band (R_L ≤ −10 dB) covering the frequency range of 9–12.5 GHz at a thickness of 2.04 mm. The interfacial polarization and multiple Debye dielectric polarization relaxation process induced by the dendritic structure of these nanowires play important roles in the microwave absorbing procedure. The results highlight the potential of fabricated dendritic SiC nanowires as efficient electromagnetic wave absorption materials.