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Polarization-driven multifunctional organohydrogels with strain sensitivity toward electromagnetic wave absorption

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Abstract

Rapid advancements in flexible electronics and military applications necessitate high-performance electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers. While huge breakthroughs in achieving high-attenuation microwave absorption, conventional EMW absorbing materials have single function and ambiguous absorption mechanisms. Herein, numerous gel-type absorbers are fabricated by introducing “regulators” into poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (P(AM-co-AA)) networks through radical polymerization in a glycerol-water mixed solvent. The dielectric constant and EMW absorption performance of the gels are precisely predicted by adjusting monomer concentration, the ratio of glycerol/water, and the content of the regulators. Notably, A6G20T20-2 exhibits promising absorption performance with a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −33.8 dB at 12.4 GHz. The effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) covers the entire X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) at a thickness of 2.7 mm. A6G20T20-2 also has sensitive deformation responses and excellent tensile strength, adhesiveness, self-healing and anti-freezing properties. Overall, this work not only provides insight into the polarization loss mechanism of the gels as the result of high correlation between EMW absorbing properties and molecular polarization, but also offers an important reference for developing functional protective materials because of the rich functionalities and efficient protective capabilities of the gels.

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Acknowledgements

The authors were thankful for the support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22375166 and 21975206), Shaanxi Fundamental Science Research Project for Chemistry & Biology (No. 22JHZ004), and Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (No. CSTB2022NSCQ-MSX0513).

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  1. Yunfei Zhang and Lei Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    Yunfei Zhang, Lei Zhang, Bingqian Zhou, Yishan Gao & Baoliang Zhang

  2. Shaanxi Engineering and Research Center for Functional Polymers on Adsorption and Separation, Sunresins New Materials Co. Ltd., Xi’an, 710072, China

    Yunfei Zhang & Baoliang Zhang

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  1. Yunfei Zhang
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  2. Lei Zhang
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  3. Bingqian Zhou
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Correspondence to Baoliang Zhang.

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Zhang, Y., Zhang, L., Zhou, B. et al. Polarization-driven multifunctional organohydrogels with strain sensitivity toward electromagnetic wave absorption. Nano Res. 17, 5688–5697 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6403-0

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