With the rapid development of the modern electronic information industry, the interference and pollution problems caused by the increasingly complex electromagnetic environment can no longer be ignored. High-intensity and multi-frequency electromagnetic radiation not only seriously endangers the stable operation of electronic equipment and information security but also poses a potential threat to biological health. Therefore, the development of high-performance electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption materials with strong multi-frequency absorption capabilities covering low, medium, and high frequencies has become a key research topic in the fields of frontier materials science and electromagnetic protection. An ideal absorber should achieve efficient electromagnetic energy dissipation over a wide frequency range (e.g., covering the low, medium, and high frequency segments of the microwave band) while possessing excellent impedance matching characteristics, so as to meet the urgent demands for electromagnetic compatibility and radiation protection in multi- frequency application scenarios.
Recently, a team of material scientists led by Xiaojun Zeng from Jingdezhen Ceramic University, China reported a ternary SiC/Ce5Si4/Pr5Si4 heterostructure for multi-frequency EMW absorption achieved by dual rare-earth (Ce and Pr) modification combined with interface engineering. Notably, the optimized composite achieves remarkable reflection loss (RL) values of −51.89 dB at 16.51 GHz (Ku-band), −64.67 dB at 8.24 GHz (X-band), and −64.5 dB at 4.30 GHz (C-band), corresponding to matching thicknesses of only 1.17 mm, 2.29 mm, and 4.17 mm, respectively. Moreover, radar cross-section (RCS) simulations confirm that the material significantly reduces detectability in aerospace stealth scenarios. Mechanistic analysis reveals that the superior multi-band absorption originates from the synergistic effects of multiple heterointerfaces (SiC/Ce5Si4, SiC/Pr5Si4, Ce5Si4/Pr5Si4) inducing intense interfacial polarization relaxation, the porous 3D network promoting multiple reflections and scattering, the mixed valence states (Ce3+/Ce4+ and Pr3+/Pr4+) contributing to dipole polarization, and the unpaired 4f electrons of rare-earth elements introducing supplementary magnetic loss. This work provides a pioneering strategy for designing high-performance, multi-frequency SiC-based absorbers via dual rare-earth synergistic engineering.
The team published their work in Journal of Advanced Ceramics on May 20, 2026.
"In this report, by introducing dual rare-earth elements Ce and Pr into the SiC matrix, a ternary SiC/Ce5Si4/Pr5Si4 heterostructure absorber with abundant heterointerfaces has been successfully constructed. This material exhibits distinct polarization loss peaks in the low, medium, and high frequency bands, significantly enhancing its polarization loss capability."said Dr. Xiaojun Zeng, the corresponding author of the paper, a professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Jingdezhen Ceramic University.
"SiC/Ce5Si4/Pr5Si4 simultaneously achieves strong reflection losses of −51.89 dB, −64.67 dB, and −64.50 dB at the C-band (4.30 GHz), X-band (8.24 GHz), and Ku-band (16.51 GHz), respectively, demonstrating excellent multi-frequency absorption capability." said Xiaojun Zeng.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52562043), the Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. 20244BAB28050), and the National University Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program (No. 202510408040X).
About Author
Xiaojun Zeng is currently a professor of the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic University. He is a postdoctoral fellow of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) under the supervision of Prof. Galen D. Stucky. He obtained his Ph. D. degree in Materials Physics and Chemistry from Beihang University (BUAA) in2019. From 2017 to 2019, he carried out research under the supervision of Prof. Yadong Yin at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). His current research interests focus on the development of advanced nanomaterials for electromagnetic functional materials and energy catalytic materials.
He also serves as editorial board member of SCI journal J. Adv. Ceram., youth editorial board member of Rare Metals, Prog. Nat. Sci., J. Adv. Dielectr. and Journal of Inorganic Materials, youth editorial board member of ESCI journal Adv. Powder Material., Energy Materials, Carbon Neutralization, Soft Sci. and Chain, youth editorial board member of EI journal of China University of Petroleum (Natural Science Journal), youth editorial board member of Chinese core journal Ceramics Journal, deputy director editorial board member of journal Materials Research and Application, Editorial board of Modern Technical Ceramics and Journal of Liaocheng University (Natural Science Edition), director of Enamel Branch of China Silicate Society, director of Expert Committee of China Photoelectric Material Device Network, member of Electromagnetic Composite Materials Branch of China Composite Materials Society, member of Building Sanitary Ceramics Professional Committee of China Silicate Society. He successively presided over major key projects of ceramic industry of National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province and Jingdezhen City. In recent years, he has published more than 90 papers as the first/corresponding author, including more than 80 SCI papers, with a total citation of more than 4700 times.
DOI Link:
https://doi.org/10.26599/JAC.2026.9221325
About Journal of Advanced Ceramics
Journal of Advanced Ceramics (JAC) is an international academic journal that presents the state-of-the-art results of theoretical and experimental studies on the processing, structure, and properties of advanced ceramics and ceramic-based composites. JAC is Fully Open Access, monthly published by Tsinghua University Press, and exclusively available via SciOpen . JAC's 2024 IF is 16.6, ranking in Top 1 (1/33, Q1) among all journals in "Materials Science, Ceramics" category, and its 2024 CiteScore is 25.9 (5/130) in Scopus database. ResearchGate homepage: https://www.researchgate.net/journal/Journal-of-Advanced-Ceramics-2227-8508
