Fabrication of flexible Co3Fe7@Ti3C2Tx/TiO2/C@Spacer fabrics for tunable radar-infrared compatible stealth Inspired by layered structure of rock

•This study provides a idea for flexible radar-infrared compatible stealth fabrics.•The layered structure promotes the attenuation of electromagnetic wave.•An optimal reflection loss value of −66.76 dB could be obtained at 2.97 mm.•The effective absorption bandwidth reaches 7 GHz covering most of X and Ku band.•The fabric achieves thermal insulation due to the retention of air in porous structure. Traditional EMW absorbing or infrared stealth materials show the disadvantages of heavy, hard and size limitation. Therefore, it is very important to develop flexible and efficient radar-infrared compatible stealth fabrics. Inspired by the layered structure of rock, Co3Fe7@Ti3C2Tx/TiO2/C composites were obtained by pyrolysis of FeCo-layered double hydroxide (LDH)@Ti3C2Tx MXene. The layered structure makes EMW detour between the layers of the composites and increases dissipation and absorption of EMW. In order to meet the growing demand for wearable products, flexible radar-infrared compatible stealth fabrics (Co3Fe7@Ti3C2Tx/TiO2/C@SF) were prepared by loading composites onto the spacer fabric. The minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of Co3Fe7@Ti3C2Tx/TiO2/C@SF reaches −66.76 dB at 11.83 GHz when the thickness is 2.97 mm, and effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) arrives at 7 GHz (9.40–12.40 GHz and 13.16–17.16 GHz), covering most of the X and Ku band. Co3Fe7@Ti3C2Tx/TiO2/C@SF achieves effective thermal insulation due to the retention of fixed air in the porous structure of the spacer fabric, and its thermal conductivity is only 0.073 W/mK at 25 °C. Co3Fe7@Ti3C2Tx/TiO2/C@SF is placed on hot stage (100 °C) for 5 min, and the surface temperature is only 64.5 °C, which proves its excellent infrared stealth performance. The work provides a novel idea for development of flexible radar-infrared compatible stealth fabrics.