Polymer-derived SiOC reinforced with core-shell nanophase structure of ZrB2/ZrO2 for excellent and stable high-temperature microwave absorption (up to 900 °C)

Yujun Jia; Ni Yang; Shaofan Xu; Alexander D Snyder; Jason F Patrick; Rajan Kumar; Dajie Zhang; Chengying Xu

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-27541-3

Polymer-derived SiOC reinforced with core-shell nanophase structure of ZrB₂/ZrO₂ for excellent and stable high-temperature microwave absorption (up to 900 °C)

Sci Rep. 2023 Jan 6;13(1):267. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-27541-3.

Authors

Yujun Jia^{1

2}, Ni Yang¹, Shaofan Xu¹, Alexander D Snyder³, Jason F Patrick³, Rajan Kumar⁴, Dajie Zhang^{5

6}, Chengying Xu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.
² State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.
⁴ FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32310, USA.
⁵ Department of Materaials Science and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.
⁶ Research and Exploratory Development Department, The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD, 20723, USA.
⁷ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA. cheryl.xu@ncsu.edu.

Abstract

Microwave absorbing materials for high-temperature harsh environments are highly desirable for aerodynamically heated parts and engine combustion induced hot spots of aircrafts. This study reports ceramic composites with excellent and stable high-temperature microwave absorption in air, which are made of polymer-derived SiOC reinforced with core-shell nanophase structure of ZrB₂/ZrO₂. The fabricated ceramic composites have a crystallized t-ZrO₂ interface between ZrB₂ and SiOC domains. The ceramic composites exhibit stable dielectric properties, which are relatively insensitive to temperature change from room temperature to 900 °C. The return loss exceeds - 10 dB, especially between 28 and 40 GHz, at the elevated temperatures. The stable high-temperature electromagnetic (EM) absorption properties are attributed to the stable dielectric and electrical properties induced by the core-shell nanophase structure of ZrB₂/ZrO₂. Crystallized t-ZrO₂ serve as nanoscale dielectric interfaces between ZrB₂ and SiOC, which are favorable for EM wave introduction for enhancing polarization loss and absorption. Existence of t-ZrO₂ interface also changes the temperature-dependent DC conductivity of ZrB₂/SiOC ceramic composites when compared to that of ZrB₂ and SiOC alone. Experimental results from thermomechanical, jet flow, thermal shock, and water vapor tests demonstrate that the developed ceramic composites have high stability in harsh environments, and can be used as high-temperature wide-band microwave absorbing structural materials.

Abstract

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