Microwave absorption properties of strontium ferrite and carbon black based nanocomposites for stealth applications

In this paper, strontium ferrite epoxy (SrF) nanocomposite and carbon black (CB) loaded strontium ferrite epoxy (CBSrF) nanocomposite are synthesized and tested for their possible usage as efficient microwave absorbers in the stealth technology. To this end, the reflection coefficients of these nanocomposites are measured in the X-band in order to retrieve their electromagnetic properties and reflection loss in the designated frequency bands. It is observed that the permittivity values of the CBSrF nanocomposite samples are substantially enhanced as compared to those of the SrF nanocomposite, which is primarily due to the inclusion of carbon black powder in the resultant nanocomposite sample. The magnetic properties of the CBSrF nanocomposite on the other hand are found to be inferior as compared with the SrF nanocomposite due to presence of carbon black. The maximum reflection loss achieved for the SrF nanocomposite is found to be 25.19 dB at 13.32 GHz for 10.5 mm thickness, while for CBSrF nanocomposite the maximum achieved reflection loss is 31.15 dB at 10.32 GHz for 9.5 mm thickness. Hence, the carbon black loaded strontium ferrite epoxy nanocomposite shows higher absorption performance than the SrF nanocomposite.