Etching engineering and electrostatic self-assembly of N-doped MXene/hollow Co-ZIF hybrids for high-performance microwave absorbers

Exploring high-performance microwave absorbing materials with lightweight, thin thickness and strong electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption capability is an essential way to solve EMW pollution problems. Herein, layered N-doped MXene (Ti 3 CNT x ) flakes and hollow Co-ZIF particles (HCF) hybrids were successfully fabricated using the controllable cooperative protection etching strategy and the electrostatic self-assembly technology . Remarkably, the microwave absorption hybrids achieved ultrathin (1.43 mm), and strong EMW absorption ability (reflection loss of −55.02 dB) with a rather low filler loading, which is superior to the magnetic–dielectric hybrids with similar components reported in the literatures. The synergistic effect generated by the improvement of dielectric loss , magnetic loss and interface polarization could effectively integrate with the impedance matching to improve the attenuation ability of EMW. Therefore, this simple assembly and etching strategy opens a new platform for designing hollow and layered materials and broadens the desirable candidates for lightweight and high-efficient microwave absorbers.