Emerging 2D layered materials and their composites for applications in microwave shielding

Abstract The development of advanced materials for microwave absorption and reflection has recently taken center stage owing to their diverse applications, ranging from next-generation telecommunications (5 G and beyond) to stealth technologies. Metallic conductors, which are excellent microwave reflectors, are generally not considered ‘green’ because reflected waves can cause secondary electromagnetic pollution. Therefore, materials that can efficiently absorb microwaves are potential candidates to address this issue. Novel two-dimensional (2D) layered materials and their composites can reflect and absorb incident microwaves more efficiently than their counterparts. This review sheds light on the fundamentals of microwave reflection, absorption, and recent advances in electromagnetic shielding performance powered by the rational design techniques using 2D layered materials and their composites. In this context, insights into the material-specific shielding mechanism are provided, followed by a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of various 2D materials and their composites. Finally, the scope of computational studies to complement the experimental findings is discussed.