The enhanced microwave absorption property of CoFe(2)O(4) nanoparticles coated with a Co(3)Fe(7)-Co nanoshell by thermal reduction.

CoFe(2)O(4) nanoparticles were fabricated by a sol-gel method and then were coated with Co(3)Fe(7)-Co by means of a simple reduction process at different temperatures under 2% H(2) with the protection of argon to generate the dielectric-core/metallic-shell structure. The optimum reflection loss (RL) calculated from permittivity and permeability of the 80 wt% CoFe(2)O(4)/Co(3)Fe(7)-Co and 20 wt% epoxy resin composites reached - 34.4 dB, which was much lower than that of unreduced CoFe(2)O(4) and epoxy resin composites, at 2.4 GHz with a matching thickness of 4.0 mm. Moreover the RL exceeding - 10 dB in the maximum frequency range of 2.2-16 GHz was achieved for a thickness of composites of 1.0-4.5 mm with 600 °C thermal reduction process. The improved microwave absorption properties are a consequence of a proper electromagnetic match and the enhanced magnetic loss besides its dielectric loss due to the existence of the core/shell structure in CoFe(2)O(4) composites. Thus, the reductive CoFe(2)O(4) nanoparticles have great potential for being a highly efficient microwave absorber.