In situ fabrication and characterization of cobalt ferrite nanorods/graphene composites

Cobalt ferrite nanorods/graphene composites were prepared by a one-step hydrothermal process using NaHSO3 as the reducing agent and 1-propyl-3-hexadecylimidazolium bromide as the structure growth-directing template. The reduction of graphene oxide and the in situ formation of cobalt ferrite nanorods were accomplished in a one-step reaction. The structure and morphology of as-obtained composites were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscope, X-ray diffractometer, Fourier transform infrared spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Uniform rod-like cobalt ferrites with diameters of about 100 nm and length of about 800 nm were homogeneously distributed on the graphene sheets. The hybrid materials showed a saturation magnetization of 42.5 emu/g and coercivity of 495.1 Oe at room temperature. The electromagnetic parameters were measured using a vector network analyzer. A minimum reflection loss (RL) of − 25.8 dB was observed at 16.1 GHz for the cobalt ferrite nanorods/graphene composites with a thickness of 2 mm, and the effective absorption frequency (RL < − 10 dB) ranged from 13.5 to 18.0 GHz. The composites exhibited better absorbing properties than the cobalt ferrite nanorods and the mixture of cobalt ferrite nanorods and graphene.