Electromagnetic interference shielding and absorption properties of CF/PDA/Fe3O4 hybrid composites

• Synergistic integration of conductive CFs and magnetic Fe₃O₄ enables enhanced EMI shielding. • A simple two-step PDA-assisted hydrothermal process ensures uniform Fe₃O₄ coating. • The hybrid achieves 41.67 dB shielding at 18 GHz, a 45 % improvement over pristine CF. • CF/PDA/Fe₃O₄ combines low density and wideband shielding for lightweight applications. To obtain high-performance Electromagnetic Interference Shielding materials, it’s significant to combine electrical loss materials and magnetic loss materials. In this paper, we reported a facile and efficient method for preparing a high-performance CF/PDA/Fe 3 O 4 hybrid material. For this purpose, poly-dopamine triggered by CuSO 4 /H 2 O 2 was deposited on carbon fiber, which were further decorated with Fe 3 O 4 nano-particles through hydro-thermal process. The experimental results showed that the Fe 3 O 4 particles uniformly coated on the surface of CFs. The electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance of CF/PDA/Fe 3 O 4 material could be controlled by the ratio of CFs to iron source. In the 1∼18 GHz band, the EMI SE of hybrids could reach 41.67 dB at 18 GHz when the weight ratio of CF to iron surface is 1:3, which was 45 % more than the pristine CF. Consequently, the novel combination of rapid dopamine deposition and hydrothermal treatment presents an effective approach for the scalable fabrication of lightweight, high-performance Electromagnetic Interference Shielding materials.