In the realm of advanced aerospace engineering, materials face a brutal ultimatum: they can be structurally robust to withstand extreme heat and pressure, or they can be "functional"—for instance, capable of absorbing electromagnetic waves for stealth purposes. Historically, combining these traits has been difficult. To absorb radar waves, materials often need to be porous, which makes them brittle and weak. Conversely, dense, strong ceramics typically reflect rather than absorb these waves.
Now, a research team led by Jun-Tong Huang from Nanchang Hangkong University in China has developed a scalable strategy to reconcile this conflict. They have successfully engineered a new type of ceramic composite that is not only significantly tougher than its predecessors but also acts as a high-performance electromagnetic absorber.
The team published their work in the Journal of Advanced Ceramics on January 22, 2026.
Their core innovation lies in designing an effective modification strategy of a dual-phase SiC matrix and a composite reinforcement phase dominated by multilayer boron nitride nanosheets (MBNS). While boron nitride is known for its thermal stability, processing it into high-quality nanosheets efficiently has been a hurdle. The researchers utilized a "protective exfoliation" method using three-roll milling to mass-produce high-integrity MBNS. These nanosheets were then integrated into a dual-phase silicon carbide (SiC) matrix through a carefully tailored sintering process.
"The trade-off between structural strength and functional performance has long plagued the development of stealth materials for extreme environments," said Jun-Tong Huang, professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Nanchang Hangkong University. "Our goal was to design a microstructure that could handle mechanical loads while simultaneously dissipating electromagnetic energy."
