Facile Manufacturing of Ultralight TPU/PDA/CNT Nanofibers with Advanced Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

Abstract

With the rapid development of communication technology and precision electronic equipment, the development of lightweight, high-performance absorbers is increasingly urgent. Herein, an ultralight porous TPU nanofiber was prepared by electrostatic spinning, and then, the TPU surface was modified by PDA to optimize the combining ability between TPU and CNTs, which led the CNTs to enter and attach inside the network under ultrasonication. Specifically, the synthesized hierarchical TPU/PDA/CNTs network exhibits an excellent microwave absorption performance of −63.5 dB and an optimal effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 8.6 GHz. The hole-rich network structure not only reduces the material mass but also introduces air to optimize the impedance properties. Heteroatoms and functional groups in PDA and TPU components can act as polarization centers, leading to significant polarization loss. Relevant electromagnetic simulations also demonstrate the absorption potential of the nanofiber. This design concept provides inspiration for the development of ultralight materials and optimization of the impedance property for polymer-based absorbers.