Preparation and electromagnetic absorption properties of silver-decorated polystyrene with frequency-selective surfaces

In this paper, silver plating of PS microspheres using chemical plating method to prepare Ag@PS composite microspheres, the purpose is to achieve good absorbing performance. The phase composition, microstructure, dielectric, and absorbing performance of the Ag@PS microspheres with different silver contents are analyzed. The results show that the augment in silver content can make the coating of Ag@PS composite microspheres denser. When the silver content augments from 10 to 25%, ε ′ augments from 11.06–13.66 to 8.85–20.84, and ε ″ augments from 2.55–5.01 to 10.67–20.4, so the dielectric properties are improved. To further improve the absorption performance, Ag@PS composite microspheres are combined with a frequency-selective surfaces (FSS). When c = 18.5 mm, A = 4.4 mm or 4.6 mm, and H = 3.0 mm, the RL of the Ag@PS composite microsphere in the 8.2–12.4 GHz is less than − 10 dB. Therefore, the addition of FSS is of great help in improving the absorbing property of Ag@PS microspheres. Graphical abstract