Tensile Strength and Electromagnetic Wave Absorption Properties of B-Doped SiC Nanowire/Silicone Composites

To investigate the synthesis route and electromagnetic wave absorption performance of SiC nanowires (SiC-NWs), boron was simultaneously employed as both a catalyst and a dopant, and the doped nanowires were embedded into a silicone matrix to fabricate SiC-NW/silicone composites with enhanced mechanical properties and microwave attenuation. Boric acid significantly increased the yield of SiC-NWs, while boron doping enhanced both conductive and relaxation losses. The subsequent nanowire pull-out mechanism improved the tensile strength of the composites by 185%, reaching 5.7 MPa at a filler loading of 5 wt%. The three-dimensional SiC-NW network provided synergistic dielectric and conductive losses, along with good impedance matching, achieving a minimum reflection loss of -35 dB at a thickness of 3.5 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth of 4.2 GHz within the 8.2-12.4 GHz range, with a nanowire content of only 5 wt%.