Preparation and Electromagnetic Properties of Composites of Hollow Glass Microspheres Coated with NiFe2O4 Nanoparticles

"The composites of hollow glass microspheres coated with NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were prepared using polyacrylamide gel method. The structural characteristics, morphology and electromagnetic properties of the composite powders with different weight percent of glass microspheres (15%, 40%, and 65%) were obtained by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, infrared spectroscopy and HP8510 network analyzer. The results indicated that the phase structure of composite powders was the mixtures of nickel ferrite, quartz, and mullite. The peak intensity for nickel ferrite decreased rapidly and for mullite increased remarkably with the increasing amount of microspheres. A pure spinel structure of NiFe2O4 formed on the glass microspheres at 600 oC. A uniform and continuous NiFe2O4-coating was obtained when the content of microspheres was 40%. A great amount of NiFe2O4 particle size is less than 80 nm. The composite with a content of 40% microspheres exhibits better dielectric and magnetic loss properties which are useful to absorb more electromagnetic wave. It can be a kind of good and light electromagnetic wave absorbing material in the X-band."