Carbon nanofilm stabilized twisty V₂O₃ nanorods with enhanced multiple polarization behavior for electromagnetic wave absorption application

Vanadium (V) oxides exhibit low electrical conductivity and poor polarization properties, especially in that V₂O₃ has low stability and is easily oxidized to higher valence V oxides. To solve this problem, we herein provide a two-step strategy for the synthesis of carbon nanofilm stabilized twisty V₂O₃ nanorods (V₂O₃@C), including a hydrothermal reaction and a controlled pyrolysis process. Conductivity tests and electron-spin resonance (ESR) spectra indicate that the coating of carbon nanofilm not only enhances the electrical conductivity but also generates abundant defects. The electromagnetic waves absorption (EMA) results suggest that V₂O₃@C exhibits excellent EMA performance at ultra-low thickness, where the effective absorption bandwidth gets to 7.21 GHz at 1.7 mm and the maximal absorption reaches –56 dB. Enhanced conductivity loss and improved multiple polarization relaxation were used to illustrate the absorbing mechanism of V₂O₃@C. This work provides new insights into the design of advanced nanocomposites for EMA applications.