Preparation and Identification of CuCr₂O₄ Nanoparticles and Investigation of its Microwave Absorption Characteristics at x-band Frequency using Silicone Rubber Polymeric Matrix

Lately, silicone rubber because of the desirable permittivity on the one hand and various applications in the implants, membranes, Solar cells, sensors, Semiconductor devices, high frequency devices, photothermal therapy methods, acoustic metamaterials, and insulator materials on the other hand has attracted considerable attentions. In this research, CuCr₂O₄ nanoparticles were prepared according to the sol-gel method and then were identified by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Results showed that monophase crystal structure with identical morphology of CuCr₂O₄ nanoparticles has been synthesized. Finally, CuCr₂O₄ nanoparticles and silicone rubber were composited and then microwave absorbing properties of the CuCr₂O₄/silicone rubber nanocomposite were investigated by vector network analyzer (VNA) exhibiting 48.56 dB microwave attenuation of the CuCr₂O₄/silicone rubber nanocomposite with 2.6 mm thickness at 10.9 GHz frequency and more than 92.99% microwave absorption in the x-band frequency.