In this manuscript, the electromagnetic wave absorption properties of sustainable porous carbon composites were evaluated over the X-band frequency range (8.2 - 12.4 GHz). The porous carbon material was made from the byproduct of cellulose production and was used as additive on the development of radar absorbing material (RAM) composites. These porous carbon materials have different characteristics, such as porosity size (180 µm < Ø1 < 250 µm and 425 µm < Ø2 < 500 µm) and particle size (ϕ1 < 250 µm and 250 µm < ϕ2 < 425 µm). Composite materials were also studied as frequency selective surface (FSS) structures. It was shown how complex permittivity and reflection loss (RL) can be manipulated over the frequency range using FSS structure. While regular RAM presented RL of 19 dB at ~11.8 GHz, FSS structure presented a RL of 19 dB shifted to 12.4 GHz regarding the same carbon porous material (with particles between 250 and 425 µm and porosity between 180 and 250 µm). It was demonstrated here the potential use of sustainable porous carbon as RAM, and how FSS structure can be used to tune the frequency of the RL maximum peak.
Keywords:
Frequency selective surface; radar absorbing material; porous carbon; composite materials
