Fe3O4@CNTs/PANI/PI fabric with magnetic–dielectric nanonetwork as a highly efficient microwave absorber

•Polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers and Fe3O4@CNTs magnetic–dielectric network was building on the surface of polyimide fabric.•Fe3O4@CNTs/PANI/PI fabric possessed an excellent microwave absorption capacity with minimum reflection loss (RL) value of −62.61 dB (>99.9 % absorption).•The unique magnetic–dielectric network attenuated microwave through well impendence match, dielectric and magnetic loss, and the scattering loss of the special cell structure. Since the matching between the complex permittivity and permeability plays a dominant role in the performance of microwave absorbing, magnetic-dielectric materials have been increasingly used for microwave absorption. In this paper, Fe3O4 nanoparticles anchored on carbon nanotubes (Fe3O4@CNTs) were fabricated via a self-assembled technique. The efficient microwave-absorbing fabric was synthesized by building polyaniline nanofibers (PANI NFs) and Fe3O4@CNTs magnetic–dielectric network on the surface of polyimide (PI) fabric. The results of SEM, FTIR, and XRD demonstrated the presence of Fe3O4@CNTs on the fabric surface. The decomposition temperature (Td) of the fabric was beyond 580.0 °C and the fabric exhibited strong hydrophobicity (water contact angle 125.0°). The Fe3O4@CNTs/PANI/PI fabric possessed a minimum reflection loss (RL) value of −62.61 dB (>99.9 % absorption) with a matching thickness of 1.58 mm. The excellent microwave absorption capacity is attributed to the well impendence match, dielectric and magnetic loss, and the scattering loss of the special cell structure. [Display omitted]