Preparation and microwave absorbing properties of nickel-coated graphite nanosheet with pyrrole via in situ polymerization

[Display omitted] ► NanoG was prepared and chemically coated by nano-Ni. ► PPy/NanoG and PPy/Ni/NanoG were prepared via in situ polymerization. ► The samples were characterized by SEM, XRD, EDS and FTIR. ► PPy/NanoG and PPy/Ni/NanoG exhibit good electromagnetic properties. Nanocomposites PPy/NanoG and PPy/Ni/NanoG were prepared via in situ polymerization of pyrrole in the presence of NanoG and nickel-coated graphite nanosheet (Ni/NanoG), respectively. The morphologies and nanostructures of NanoG, Ni/NanoG, PPy, PPy/NanoG and PPy/Ni/NanoG were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transmission infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Results show that most of PPy chains disperse on NanoG and Ni/NanoG's surfaces for the high aspect ratio (300–500) of NanoG and Ni/NanoG. From the thermogravimetric analysis (TG) it can be seen that the introduction of Ni and NanoG leads the composites PPy/NanoG and PPy/Ni/NanoG to exhibit a better thermal stability than pure PPy. According to the four-point-probe test, the conductivities of the final PPy/NanoG and PPy/Ni/NanoG composites are dramatically increased compared to pure PPy. Measurement of electromagnetic parameters shows that the reflection loss (R) of PPy/Ni/NanoG is below −19dB at the X band (8.2–12.4GHz) and the minimum loss value is −23.46dB at 9.88GHz. The reflection loss of PPy/NanoG is below −10dB at 8.2–12.4GHz and the minimum loss value is −13.44dB at 10.28GHz. The microwave absorbing properties of PPy/NanoG and PPy/Ni/NanoG are superior to those of PPy.