Electromagnetism and Absorptivity of the Modified Micro-coiled Chiral Carbon Fibers

Micro-coiled chiral carbon fibers are modified by nano-Ni. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to compare the composition and morphology of the unmodified and the modified fibers. The results show that electromagnetism parameters of the modified are different from those of the unmodified. After modification by nano-Ni, the micro-coiled chiral carbon fibers have decreased permittivity and electrical loss. The permeability and magnetic loss of the modified carbon fibers become larger than those of the unmodified ones. Moreover, the modification of unmodified chiral carbon fibers into the modified is much like changing hollow electric windings into those with magnetic cores inside. The modifier intensifies the cross polarization of the chiral carbon fibers and makes the permittivity and the permeability get closer to each other which improves the matching performance and enhances absorbability of coatings. In the range of 6-18 GHz, the reflectivity of the coating is 6-8 dB and the bandwidth is 12 GHz. The area density of the coating is below 3 kg/m2.