Design of light weight wideband microwave absorber using ferromagnetic cobalt nanoparticles dispersed in polystyrene matrix for X-band applications

The electromagnetic and microwave absorption properties of 15 wt% cobalt/polystyrene (Co/PS) nanocomposite in the X-band of microwave frequency are studied for seeking its usage as light weight and wideband microwave absorber. The melt blending and automated injection molding methods are employed to prepare the cobalt/polystyrene nanocomposite sheet successfully. The reflection and transmission coefficients of the prepared sample are measured using the vector network analyzer (VNA) in the X-band. The complex permittivity (ε_r) and complex permeability (μ_r) of the prepared Co/PS nanocomposite are extracted from the measured reflection and transmission coefficients. The maximum reflection loss (absorption) of 18.17 dB (98.48%) at 12.40 GHz with 1 GHz bandwidth is obtained for 5 mm thick sample comprising of 15 wt% Co/PS nanocomposite.