Abstract

Microwave absorbing materials have received considerable interest over the years for their applications in stealth, communications, and information processing technologies. These materials often require functionalization at the nanoscale so to achieve desirable dielectric and magnetic properties which induce interaction with incident electromagnetic radiation. This article presents a comprehensive review on the recent research progress of nanomaterials for microwave absorption, including the basic mechanism of microwave absorption (e.g., dielectric loss, magnetic loss, dielectric/magnetic loss coupling), measurement principle (e.g., fundamentals of analysis, performance evaluation, common interaction pathways: Debye relaxation, Eddy current loss, natural resonance, size and shape factors), and the advances and performance review in microwave absorption (e.g., absorption bandwidth, reflection loss values, absorption peak position) using various nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, graphenes, oxides, sulfides, phosphides, carbides, polymers and metal organic frameworks. Overall, this article not only provides an introduction on the fundamentals of microwave absorption research, but also presents a timely update on the research progress of the microwave absorption performance of various nanomaterials.