The Effects of In Situ Growth of SiC Nanowires on the Electromagnetic Wave Absorption Properties of SiC Porous Ceramics

In situ-grown SiC nanowires (SiCnws) on SiC porous material (SiCnws@SiC) were prepared using sol-gel and carbothermal reduction methods, which substantially improves the electromagnetic wave absorption property of composite material. The crystallinity and purity of SiCnws are the best when the sintering temperature is 1600 °C. When the ratio of the carbon source (C) to the silicon source (Si) is 1:1, SiCnws@SiC composite exhibits excellent electromagnetic wave absorption performance, the minimum reflection loss is -56.95 dB at a thickness of 2.30 mm, and the effective absorption bandwidth covers 1.85 GHz. The optimal effective absorption bandwidth is 4.01 GHz when the thickness is 2.59 mm. The enhancement of the electromagnetic wave absorption performance of SiCnws is mainly attributed to the increase in the heterogeneous interface and multiple reflection and scattering caused by the network structure, increasing dielectric loss and conduction loss. In addition, defects could occur during the growth of SiCnws, which could become the center of dipole polarization and increase the polarization loss of composite materials. Therefore, in situ growth of SiCnws on SiC porous ceramics is a promising method to improve electromagnetic wave absorption.