Lightweight and Flexible Fabric Assembled by ANF/GMWCNT Fibers for Broadband Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

Developing efficient electromagnetic wave absorbing materials that offer both broadband and stability, while enabling simultaneous solutions for equipment stealth and personal protection, remains a critical challenge today. In this work, aramid nanofiber (ANF)/graphitized multiwall carbon nanotube (GMWCNT) composite fibers are prepared via a wet spinning and sol–gel transformation strategy, and further woven into fabrics. Within the composite fibers, GMWCNT bundles around the ANF skeleton to form a continuous conductive network, while generating abundant heterointerfaces. The insulating ANF matrix effectively modulates the impedance characteristics of the composite. Benefiting from the synergistic effects of conduction loss in the micro-macro electrical network and heterointerface polarization, the ANF/GMWCNT composite fiber fabric-2 (AGCFF-2) with an areal density of 7.1×10⁻³ g/cm² achieves a minimum reflection loss of −75.18 dB, with an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 7.68 GHz. Remarkably, the fabric maintains outstanding performance after heat treatment at 350°C in air, exhibiting an expanded EAB of 8.02 GHz, demonstrating exceptional stability. Additionally, it exhibits a rapid Joule heating response and excellent electromagnetic stealth capability confirmed by radar cross-section simulation. This work provides new insights for designing lightweight, flexible, multifunctional, and high-performance electromagnetic wave absorbers for complex application scenarios.