Studies of Electromagnetic Properties of MWCNTs after Electroless Plating with Co-Fe Alloy

A method of electroless plating is utilized to deposit Co-Fe alloy on the surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and electromagnetic parameters of MWCNTs with and without electroless plating are discussed. The MWCNTs covered by Co-Fe is a desirable light absorbent in wide wave band by utilizing electroless plating process in experiments. Field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and field-emission transmission electron microscope (FETEM) images as well as energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) results are presented to show the morphology, components and electromagnetic parameters of MWCNTs. Electromagnetic properties of MWCNTs are enhanced after electroless plating observed from contrast of results between MWCNTs with and without plating. In conclusion, the covering Co-Fe on the surface of MWCNTs in 2-18 GHz frequency range has better electromagnetic properties. When the material is in the 6.5 GHz electromagnetic waves, the reflection loss is up to −10 dB, and the bandwidth more than −4 dB is 5 GHz. The excellent electromagnetic properties make it probable for MWCNTs to be utilized as absorbent in electromagnetic shielding materials.