Bimetallic NiCu-MOFs/MXene-derived aerogels toward outstanding electromagnetic wave absorption performance

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)/MXene-derived aerogels exhibit significant application potential in the field of electromagnetic wave absorption (EMWA). In this study, bimetallic NiCu-MOFs/MXene-derived aerogels were fabricated, and the regulatory effects of MXene addition on their microstructures, compositions, and EMWA properties were systematically investigated. By leveraging the dynamic assembly behavior of NiCu-MOFs induced by water molecules and combining it with the hydrogen bonding interactions of MXene nanosheets, a composite aerogel with a “sphere-rod-sheet” hierarchical porous structure was successfully constructed. Benefiting from the synergistic effect between MXene and bimetallic oxides, the optimized aerogel demonstrates excellent EMWA performance: the minimum reflection loss (RL min ) is as low as −85.80 dB, and the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL < −10 dB) reaches 5.68 GHz at a coating thickness of 2.93 mm. Additionally, this aerogel possesses characteristics such as ultra-low density and hydrophobicity. This research provides a theoretical basis and technical support for the design of lightweight, high-efficiency, and multi-functional integrated MOFs/MXene-based electromagnetic wave absorption materials.