Aligned polyaniline/porous biomass carbon composites with superior microwave absorption properties

Hierarchical structure composites of loofah derived biomass carbon (PBC) decorated by aligned polyaniline (PANI) were successfully fabricated by simple carbonization and in situ oxidative polymerization. The morphology and structural of composites was studied. The microwave absorbing performance of aligned PANI/PBC was investigated in the frequency range of 2–18 GHz. The results indicated that aligned PANI/PBC with special structure possessed more distinct dielectric response characteristics and enhanced microwave absorbing performance. The minimum reflection loss (RL) value of aligned PANI/PBC was up to − 44.8 dB at 10.02 GHz and the effective absorption frequency width (RL < − 10 dB) is in the 5.58–18 GHz range with the thickness range of 1–3 mm. The excellent microwave absorbing performance of aligned PANI/PBC was mainly correlate with the multiple relaxation polarization, good impedance matching and the synergistic effect between PANI nanorods and PBC.