Preparation, characterization and microwave absorption properties of porous nickel ferrite hollow nanospheres/helical carbon nanotubes/polypyrrole nanowires composites

Porous nickel ferrite hollow nanospheres/helical carbon nanotubes/polypyrrole nanowires (PNFHSs/HCNTs/PNWs) composites were successfully fabricated by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization method of PNWs with PNFHSs and HCNTs. The phase structure, chemical state, morphology, thermal stability and electromagnetic parameters of samples were analyzed and characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis and vector network analyzer. The possible mechanism of microwave absorption of composites and the influence of the matching thickness on microwave attenuation is also discussed. The results indicate that at the thickness of 2.1 mm, PNFHSs/HCNTs/PNWs composites exhibit strong microwave absorption capacity (R L = − 33.94 dB at 11.39 GHz) and the effective absorption bandwidth is 3.22 GHz (9.18–12.4 GHz).