Optimizing the electromagnetic parameters and microwave absorption of corrosion-resistant FCIP@EP by data-driven discovery

The formation of core–shell structure is one of the standard methods to improve the corrosion resistance of carbonyl iron powders (CIPs). In this manuscript, epoxy resin (EP) was coated on the surface of flaky carbonyl iron particles (FCIPs) by a simple one-step polymerization method to form the FCIP@EP composite particles, and they were used to obtained microwave response to accurately simulate, predict and optimize the microwave absorption performance of composites. After being coated by epoxy resin, the composite exhibits a higher percolation threshold; the absorbing performance is more stable in an acidic environment. The optimal loading of FCIP@EP in the matrix can be obtained by data-driven optimization, and the model calculation results are in good agreement with the actual measured ones. At 23 vol%, the composite's effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL < −10 dB) can reach a maximum of 7.63 GHz at 1.5 mm thickness, and the EAB covers all X-band and all Ku-band at 1.9 mm and 1.4 mm, respectively. The whole optimization process provides a guiding basis for the modified corrosion-resistant absorbers in design applications.