Biphasic Transition Induced Intelligent Switchable Microwave Absorption in LCE/VO 2 Composites

ABSTRACT Intelligent microwave absorption (MA) materials, which are characterized by their capacity to dynamically adjust MA performance in response to real‐time demands, hold great promise for applications across both civilian and defense sectors. In this study, we introduce a series of liquid crystal elastomer/vanadium dioxide (LCE/VO 2 ) composites that exhibit switchable MA properties through a synergistic biphasic transition mechanism. The intelligent switching behavior arises from the synergy of three effects: dipole polarization changes associated with the LCE nematic‐isotropic transition, conductivity variations stemming from the VO 2 metal‐insulator transition, and alterations in interfacial polarization between the two phases generated from the thermal stress imposed on the LCE. This synergistic effect facilitates dynamic modulation of the real permittivity ( ε′ ) as well as the conductive ( ε σ ″ ) and polarization ( ε p ″ ) parts of the imaginary permittivity, thereby enabling switchable MA. Benefiting from the biphasic cooperative modulation, the designed composites exhibit an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) ranging from 0 to 3.3 GHz (covering 80% of the X‐band) and a radar cross‐section (RCS) achieving a maximum ΔRCS of 33.2 dB m 2 (incident angle of 330°). These results highlight the promise of LCE/VO 2 composites as intelligent MA materials, opening new avenues for adaptive stealth applications in electronic devices and aerospace technologies.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2026-10-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.76253
Primary Topic
Electromagnetic wave absorption materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Biphasic Transition Induced Intelligent Switchable Microwave Absorption in LCE/VO 2 Composites

Wansong Gu, Hetao Chu, Zhaolin Sun, Longjiang Deng et al.
Small
Electromagnetic wave absorption materials
article

Biphasic Transition Induced Intelligent Switchable Microwave Absorption in LCE/VO 2 Composites

Wansong Gu, Hetao Chu, Zhaolin Sun, Longjiang Deng, Ce Bian, Guanxiang Zhong, Wenyang Kou, Kai Wang
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Intelligent microwave absorption (MA) materials, which are characterized by their capacity to dynamically adjust MA performance in response to real‐time demands, hold great promise for applications across both civilian and defense sectors. In this study, we introduce a series of liquid crystal elastomer/vanadium dioxide (LCE/VO 2 ) composites that exhibit switchable MA properties through a synergistic biphasic transition mechanism. The intelligent switching behavior arises from the synergy of three effects: dipole polarization changes associated with the LCE nematic‐isotropic transition, conductivity variations stemming from the VO 2 metal‐insulator transition, and alterations in interfacial polarization between the two phases generated from the thermal stress imposed on the LCE. This synergistic effect facilitates dynamic modulation of the real permittivity ( ε′ ) as well as the conductive ( ε σ ″ ) and polarization ( ε p ″ ) parts of the imaginary permittivity, thereby enabling switchable MA. Benefiting from the biphasic cooperative modulation, the designed composites exhibit an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) ranging from 0 to 3.3 GHz (covering 80% of the X‐band) and a radar cross‐section (RCS) achieving a maximum ΔRCS of 33.2 dB m 2 (incident angle of 330°). These results highlight the promise of LCE/VO 2 composites as intelligent MA materials, opening new avenues for adaptive stealth applications in electronic devices and aerospace technologies.

Small
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (CN), National Engineering Research Center of Electromagnetic Radiation Control Materials (CN)
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Openalex Percentile: Top 33%
Electromagnetic wave absorption materials
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