Microwave

Quantum mechanics

Catalysis

Composite number

Engineering

Oxide

SPHERES

Nanoparticle

Mesoporous material

Metallurgy

Materials science

Nanocomposite

Absorption (acoustics)

Carbon fibers

Chemical engineering

Zinc

Physics

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Astronomy

Composite material

Chemistry

Nano-Micro Letters

Currently, electromagnetic radiation and interference have a significant effect on the operation of electronic devices and human health systems. Thus, developing excellent microwave absorbers have a huge significance in the material research field. Herein, a kind of ultrafine zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) supported on three-dimensional (3D) ordered mesoporous carbon spheres (ZnO/OMCS) is prepared from silica inverse opal by using phenolic resol precursor as carbon source. The prepared lightweight ZnO/OMCS nanocomposites exhibit 3D ordered carbon sphere array and highly dispersed ultrafine ZnO NPs on the mesoporous cell walls of carbon spheres. ZnO/OMCS-30 shows microwave absorbing ability with a strong absorption (- 39.3 dB at 10.4 GHz with a small thickness of 2 mm) and a broad effective absorption bandwidth (9.1 GHz). The outstanding microwave absorbing ability benefits to the well-dispersed ultrafine ZnO NPs and the 3D ordered mesoporous carbon spheres structure. This work opened up a unique way for developing lightweight and high-efficient carbon-based microwave absorbing materials.

Three-Dimensional Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Spheres Modified with Ultrafine Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Enhanced Microwave Absorption Properties