J Mater Sci: Mater Electron

High-efficiency microwave absorption

and electromagnetic interference shielding of Cobalt-
doped MoS2 nanosheet anchored on the surface
reduced graphene oxide nanosheet
Jagdees Prasad1, Ashwani K. Singh1, Monika Tomar2, Vinay Gupta2, and Kedar Singh1,*

1
School of Physical Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
2
Departments of Physics and Astrophysics, Delhi University, New Delhi 110007, India

Received: 20 January 2020 ABSTRACT

Accepted: 18 September 2020
Ó Springer Science+Business
Media, LLC, part of Springer
Nature 2020
In this paper, Co-doped molybdenum disulfide anchored on the surface
reduced graphene oxide (Co@MoS2/rGO) has been successfully synthesized
using a simple and effective hydrothermal approach to measure their micro-
wave shielding properties. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique confirmed the
successful doping of magnetic atoms into the MoS2 lattice. The experiments
show that 15% and 20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite have higher electro-
magnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) value up to SET * 38.26
and * 46.02 dB, respectively. But pure MoS2/rGO nanocomposite demon-
strates a lower EMI SE value of around * 28.90 dB over the frequency range of
8.0–12.0 GHz with a 1.7 mm thickness. A higher value of the EMI SE depends
mainly on the doping percentage of Co-ion. This nanocomposite network
enhances the defect dipole polarization, electric conduction, interfacial polar-
ization, and impedance matching characteristics. It is favorable for strong
attenuation and dissipation loss ability of microwave energy inside the shield-
ing material. The actual role of Co-doping is to form a highly conductive and
magnetic channel between multi-interfaces leading to enhance the migration
and hopping of electrons at defective sites or interface. Therefore, the 20%
Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite is considered as novel microwave shielding
material and can be widely used in electronic information and communication
devices.

Address correspondence to E-mail: kedar@mail.jnu.ac.in

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-020-04512-2

1 Introduction
In recent years, electronic information and commu-
nication devices have attracted widespread social
and scientific attention in terms of microwave energy
storage and conversion performance. These electronic
devices have a potential ability for storage and
transmission of information/data and can deliver us
in almost no time. It plays an important role in
information and communication fields through the
wireless telecommunication and satellite facilities.
Due to the rapid development in information and
communication devices such as cellular phones,
television, computers, loudspeakers, radios, and
wireless wide area networks (WAN) have gained
considerable attention and interest of human. It
strongly influences all the aspects of daily human life
and tries to make a comfortable and secure day to
day life [1–3]. With the help of these electronic
devices, one can easily interact and communicate
with others through social network sites such as
Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. These devices will
have competing challenges and opportunities in the
coming years. These electronic equipments provide
information/data with an enormous speed, accuracy,
efficiency, and an easier way to understand. Infor-
mation and communication devices are aptly used in
various fields such as defense services, medicine,
education, industry, governance, climate change, and
environment fields. Besides this, these devices emit
electromagnetic (EM) radiation pollution at the
gigahertz frequency range. EM radiation may affect
the biological tissues, cells, organs of the human body
severely and can cause dangerous diseases, brain
tumors, and skin cancer [4, 5]. Recently, enormous
efforts have been devoted to quest for excellent
electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness
(EMI SE) material, which reduces the harmful EM
radiation and enhances microwave absorption ability
of the EM waves along with excellent shielding
properties. An ideal high-performance EMI SE
material possesses various potential properties,
including wide dissipation band, lightweight, low
thickness, large surface area, and good physical and
chemical stability [6–8]. The relative complex per-
mittivity (er) and permeability (lr) values must have
equal magnitude or their ratios close to 1, which is
necessary for good EMI shielding materials and
subsequently most of the incoming EM waves can be
attenuated and dissipated within materials, and lead
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron
to zero reflection mechanism over the surface of the
materials. This phenomenon reflects its good impe-
dance matching characteristics [9, 10]. The doping
content of magnetic metals (Fe, Ni, Co) effectively
changes its properties and enhances efficiency of
different electronic devices. Henceforth, the EM wave
absorption and EMI shielding parameters can effec-
tively tune by controlling the doping content of Co-
ions, and microstructural features.
Layered two-dimensional (2D) transition metal
dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials, especially semi-
conductor MoS2 with the hexagonal phase has been
attracted tremendous interest due to their excellent
electrical, mechanical, and chemical properties. Each
layer of Mo atom is internally connected to a strong
covalent bond to other S atom, and weak van der
Waals forces conduct layer-by-layer stacking of MoS2
nanosheet [11, 12]. Bulk MoS2 shows indirect band-
gap of 1.2 eV, and single-layer MoS2 as 1.8 eV. MoS2
is considered as most widely studied material for
electronic device purposes, as its bandgap can be
easily tuned with adjusting the number of layers due
to significant quantum confinement effect [13]. MoS2
also has potential application the field of EM wave
absorption and shielding application due to its
unique morphology with numerous interfaces and
defect dipole polarization originating from Mo and S
vacancies. Microsphere-like MoS2 possesses more
defective sites and sufficient voids, which provide
more scattering, reflection, and consequently a trap of
incident EM waves [14, 15]. Numerous carbon-based
materials, particularly two-dimensional (2D) gra-
phene, also known as a zero bandgap semiconduc-
tors with a hexagonal structure, have received
massive research interest. One atom thick single layer
of a carbon atom with a 2D honeycomb-like structure
is basically a graphene nanosheet. Due to its excellent
charge carrier mobility, high specific surface area,
high electrical conductivity, and low density, they
have ability to show their remarkable potential for
energy storage and conservation devices, sensing,
supercapacitors, and hydrogen evolution reaction
[16–18]. Graphene derivative reduced graphene
oxide (rGO) plays a significant role in the application
of microwave shielding fields with the high-fre-
quency range. rGO shows abundant defects, multi-
interfaces, and various functional groups attached on
its surface, which provide strong dipole polarization
and interfacial polarization leading to the enhance-
ment in microwave shielding properties. Besides,
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron
high electrical conductivity and large surface area
support migration, and hopping of charge carriers at
multi-interfaces which amend the EM wave absorp-
tion ability [19, 20].
Recently, several studies have been reported on
analyzing high-performance microwave shielding
effectiveness of the MoS2 and rGO nanosheets. Wan
et al. synthesized iodine-doped graphene sheets and
found that they exhibit excellent EMI SE value *
52.2 dB with a thickness of 12.5 lm [21]. Guo et al.
prepared rGO@MoS2/polyvinylidene difluoride
(PVDF) nanocomposite exhibiting a high EMI SE
value up to 27.90 dB with filler loading ratio of 25
wt% [22]. Prasad et al. prepared Gd-doped MoS2-
rGO nanocomposite by a facile hydrothermal route.
The total EMI SE value of 20.47 dB has been reported
with 20% Gd@MoS2–rGO, substantially higher than
that of the pure MoS2–rGO nanocomposite with same
sample thickness of 1.1 mm [23]. Shahzad et al. syn-
thesized sulfur-doped graphene laminated structure.
The experiments showed that the EMI SE value of
S-rGO has significantly been enhanced than that of
the undoped graphene [24]. Zhang et al. synthesized
MoS2 nanosheet with different reaction times using a
facile hydrothermal method. MoS2 nanosheet syn-
thesized with reaction time of 6 h and 12 h [25].
MoS2/rGO nanocomposite has widely been used for
photocatalytic, EM wave absorption, supercapacitors,
lithium/sodium-ion batteries, and hydrogen evolu-
tion reaction fields [26]. 2D MoS2 or rGO nanosheet
individually has poor microwave absorption ability
in terms of impedance mismatching characteristics,
which infer maximum surface reflection and weak
dissipation of incoming EM waves. To overcome the
above mentioned drawback, composite of MoS2 and
rGO nanosheet has been studied which may improve
the impedance matching characteristics with free
space and minimize the surface reflection of EM
waves [27, 28]. Layer-by-layer stacking of MoS2 and
rGO nanosheet forms 3D multi-interfaces and may
enhance EMI shielding efficiency than the other 1D or
2D materials. Doping of transition metal Co into the
MoS2 lattice has been an effective path to improve the
conductivity and magnetic behavior of the as-pre-
pared nanocomposite. Co-doping plays a significant
role to increase the defects in the active edge sites,
and a good balance between dielectric and magnetic
properties [29].
In the present study, Co-doped MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite has been prepared through a simple
and facile hydrothermal method. The primary aim of
the present work is to investigate the impact of Co
doping on the EMI shielding, relative complex per-
mittivity, and permeability performance. The micro-
wave absorption and shielding properties in the
microwave range of 8.0–12.0 GHz (X-band) have
been reported for the first time. The phase identifi-
cation, surface morphology, and microstructural
features of as-prepared nanocomposite have been
studied in detail. It has been observed that with the
doping of Co-ions, the microwave absorption per-
formance of MoS2/rGO nanocomposite gets
improved significantly, due to the increase in con-
ductivity and magnetic components. The results
showed that the 20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite
exhibits excellent microwave shielding properties
and has a prospect to be widely used to protect
electronic devices from microwave radiation.
2 Experimental sections
2.1 Materials and methods
Ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate (NH4)6-
Mo7O244H2O (99.98%), thiourea (NH2)2CS (99%),
pure graphite (99.99%), Cobalt(II) nitrate hexahydrate
Co(NO3)26H2O (99.99%), and ethanol (CH3CH2OH),
analytical reagents, were purchased from Sigma
Aldrich and used without further purification. Sul-
furic acid (H2SO4), nitric acid (HNO3), and potassium
chlorate (KClO3) were procured from Fisher Scien-
tific. In the present study, it was assumed that
thiourea works as a sulfur source and a reducing
agent both. The high purity de-ionized (DI) water
(Merck Millipore, USA) was used as a solvent and
also for the purification of as-prepared products.
2.2 Preparation of Co-doped MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite
Initially, graphite oxide nanosheet (GOS) was syn-
thesized through a slightly modified Staudenmaier’s
method with natural bulk graphite powder [30]. The
Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite was prepared by a
simple hydrothermal technique. Briefly, 280 mg GOS
powder was dissolved in 70 mL of high purity de-
ionized water with different doping percentage of
Co(NO3)26H2O (0.35, and 0.50 mmol) by ultrasoni-
cation for 1.5 h at room temperature to obtain

homogeneous mixture dispersion. Further, 2 mmol of
(NH4)6Mo7O244H2O, and 60 mmol of (NH2)2CS were
slowly added into as- obtained solution and mixed
uniformly with constant magnetic stirring for 1 h at
room temperature. The black well-mixed suspension
was transferred into a 100 mL Teflon-lined stainless
steel autoclave and held at 220 °C for 24 h in a muffle
furnace. The autoclave was allowed to cool to the
room temperature at ambient condition. Subsequent
the black precipitate were collected and washed
properly with de-ionized water and ethanol for 5–6
times to remove residual impurity. Finally, the as-
obtained black powder was dried in a vacuum oven
at 50 °C for overnight. Pure MoS2/rGO nanocom-
posite was prepared following the similar experi-
mental procedure except the introduction of
Co(NO3)26H2O. The synthesis protocol has been
shown in Fig. 1.
2.3 Material characterization tools
The phase identification and crystallinity of the as-
prepared samples were investigated using a powder
X-ray diffraction (Rigaku Miniflex-600 diffractome-
ter) system at operating potential 45 kV and anode
current 100 mA with Cu Ka radiation
(k = 1.54056 Å). The XRD patterns were recorded at
2h angles 10° to 80°. The Raman patterns of as-pre-
pared samples were analyzed using a Wi-Tec alpha
300 R.A. spectrometer system with argon laser
Fig. 1 A pictorial model of a simple and effective hydrothermal approach for the synthesis of pure MoS2/rGO and Co-doped MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron
having excitation wavelength k = 532 nm and output
power 20–50 mW. The morphologies and
microstructures of as-prepared samples were cap-
tured by a scanning electron microscope attached
with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM, Zeiss
EVO40 microscope) with an accelerating voltage of
20 kV, and high-resolution transmission electron
microscopy (JEOL JEM-2100F microscope) operated
at an accelerating voltage of 120 kV. Their microwave
absorption and electromagnetic interference (EMI)
shielding parameters were obtained using two-port
vector network analyzer (Agilent E8362B) measure-
ment systems in the microwave range of
8.0–12.0 GHz (X-band). The preparation of rectan-
gular shape pellets with dimensions of 8 mm
(width) 9 15 mm (length) 9 1.7 mm (thickness) was
done by compressing powder samples with the help
of a hydraulic press at the pressure of 572 megapascal
(MPa). The obtained rectangular pellets were placed
into the copper sample holder with a similar
dimension to fit the two waveguides dimensions.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 XRD patterns and Raman spectra
analysis
X-ray diffraction (XRD) profiles of the pure MoS2/
rGO and Co-doped MoS2/rGO nanocomposite have
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron
been shown in Fig. 2. Figure 2a depicts the presence
of four diffraction peaks at 13.76°, 33.10°, 39.66°, and
58.50° which correspond to the (002), (100), (103), and
(110) lattice planes of the hexagonal phase MoS2
nanosheet (PDF Card No. 01-070-9263). The weak
diffraction peak at 24.62° is representation of the (002)
lattice plane of the rGO nanosheet and cannot be
easily detected from the powder pattern due to the
weak scattering power and low content of the rGO
[31]. Figure 2b, c show the XRD pattern of 15% and
20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposites. The diffraction
peak at 13.768 attributes to the strong (002) crystal
plane of pure MoS2 nanosheet (Fig. 2a) and it gets
shifted to the higher diffraction angle * 14.20° with
20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite (Fig. 2c) [32, 33].
Bragg’s formula was used to evaluate the d-spacing
of (002) crystal plane of MoS2 and was found to be
0.64 nm and 0.62 nm for pure MoS2/rGO (Fig. 2a)
and 20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposites (Fig. 2c),
respectively. The d-spacing decrement along with the
doping percentage of Co-ions, leads to the conclusion
of the lattice shrinkage of MoS2 or creation of atomic
defects [34]. Any additional peaks related to
Fig. 2 XRD profiles of a pure MoS2/rGO, and b, c Co-doped
MoS2/rGO nanocomposite with different doping concentration
secondary or impurity phases have not been
observed in the XRD profiles, which indicate the high
purity of the nanocomposites.
Raman spectroscopy is a convenient tool used to
identify the ordered and disordered crystal structure
of carbon atoms in allotropes of carbon. The charac-
teristic Raman spectra of all synthesized samples
have been shown in Fig. 3. Figure 3a depicts the
Raman spectrum of MoS2/rGO nanocomposite,
which shows two distinct Raman peaks located at 381
and 408 cm-1. These peaks correspond to the E12g
and A1g vibrational modes of the hexagonal phase
MoS2. The lower energy E12g Raman modes originate
due to in-plane vibration of two S atoms with respect
to the Mo atom. In contrast, higher energy A1g Raman
modes belong to the out-of-plane vibration of only S
atoms in opposite directions, respectively [35]. Two
characteristics Raman peaks located at 1349 cm-1
and 1586 cm-1 corresponding to the D and G bands
of carbon atoms in rGO nanosheet, respectively in the
same Fig. The D and G band of rGO have observed in
all synthesized samples, indicating the presence of
rGO in the nanocomposite. The D band corresponds
to the lattice defects and disorder degree of C atoms
in the crystal, while the G band is attributed to the in-
plane vibration of sp2 carbon atoms in a 2D hexago-
nal lattice [36]. The D and G bands intensity ratio (ID/
IG) of the 15% and 20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocom-
posite was calculated and found to be 1.0058 and
1.0232, respectively. On the other hand, pure MoS2/
rGO nanocomposite shows lower ID/IG value is
achieved about 0.9888. A higher value of ID/IG is
assigned to more disorderly stacking of carbon atoms
and excess elimination of oxygen-containing func-
tional groups through the reduction process. There-
fore, the result suggests that 20% Co@MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite is attributed to more abundant
defects and dislocations of C atoms in rGO.
3.2 Morphology and microstructure
The morphology and microstructure of the as-pre-
pared materials were further investigated using SEM
and TEM at different magnification. Figure 4 shows
the SEM images of the pure MoS2/rGO and Co-
doped MoS2/rGO nanocomposite. In Fig. 4a, flower-
like microspheres are indeed MoS2 nanostructures
looking like massive curled nanopetals and strongly
aggregated to each other. The entire surface of the
rGO nanosheet is strongly loaded and tightly coupled

Fig. 3 Raman spectra of a pure MoS2/rGO, b, c shows Co-doped MoS2/rGO nanocomposite, and d–f enlarge view for D and G band of
carbon atom
with these flower-like MoS2 microspheres [11]. The
thicknesses of the MoS2 nanopetals are several nm
and have been shown in Fig. 4b. Curled nanopetals of
the microsphere are consist of nanosheet of MoS2 and
can be seen at magnified FESEM image (Fig. 4b).
Massive curled-like nanopetals of MoS2 tightly
stacked together to construct a microsphere-like
morphology and each sphere interconnected to each
other. The as-obtained flower-like microsphere of
MoS2 is uniform in shape and size with an average
diameter of about 1.5–2.5 lm [37, 38]. A small devi-
ation has been observed on the surface of the
microsphere at high magnification (Fig. 4f) for 20%
Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite due to atomic defect
in MoS2 and well-matched with the XRD results. The
elemental composition of the Co-doped MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite was confirmed using EDX analysis
are shown in Fig. 4g, h. Herein, Co-doped MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite constructs a 3D multi-interfaces
heterostructured with a large surface contact area for
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron
the migration and hopping of charge carriers at the
interfaces. Large surface area can increase the multi-
ple internal scattering and reflection mechanism of
incoming EM waves among an interface and inner
void space, and at last higher microwave absorption
and dissipation occur.
TEM micrographs of the pure MoS2/rGO and Co-
doped MoS2/rGO nanocomposite are being illus-
trated in Fig. 5. MoS2 nanosheets are visible as dark
contrast objects with ripples and corrugations with
plenty of curled edges (Fig. 5a). In the background of
MoS2 nanostructures, there is a thin and semi-trans-
parent paper-like structure, which is rGO nanosheet
supporting the MoS2 [39]. Figure 5a shows that the
MoS2 and rGO nanosheets are strongly overlapped
with each other, forming a capacitor-like structure. In
this way, most of the rGO surface is strongly covered
by self-assembly of curled MoS2 nanostructures. The
TEM micrograph at high magnification (Fig. 5b) dis-
plays the dark layer of MoS2 nanosheet with an
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron

Fig. 4 SEM/FESEM photos

of a pure MoS2/rGO, c 15%
Co@MoS2/rGO, and e 20%
Co@MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite at low, and b,
d, f at high magnification. g,
h EDX analysis of 15% and
20% Co@MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite
 J Mater Sci: Mater Electron

Fig. 5 Typical TEM/HRTEM

photos of a pure MoS2/rGO,
c 15% Co@MoS2/rGO, and
e 20% Co@MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite at low, and b,
d, f at high-resolution

interlayer spacing (d-spacing) of 0.64 nm, which can
be assigned to the (002) crystal planes of the hexag-
onal phase of MoS2 [40]. On the other hand, the (002)
lattice plane of rGO nanosheet has d-spacing of
0.36 nm [41]. The TEM images at high magnification
show the interplanar distance between two adjacent
fringes were found to be 0.64 nm for (002) plane of
pure MoS2 (Fig. 5b), while 20% Co-doped MoS2
(Fig. 5f) represents slightly decreases d-spacing, and
were calculated to be 0.62 nm, respectively. These
interplanar distance values are well-matched from
the XRD results. The decrease in d-spacing with
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron
increase Co-doping percentage, indicating the lattice
defect and distortion is induced in the MoS2 nanos-
tructure [34]. In other words, layer-by-layer stacking
of MoS2 nanosheet is disordered in nature. The
selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern
supports the existence of lattice planes of MoS2 and
rGO nanosheet with bright ring patterns in the
nanocomposite (Fig. 5 inset).
3.3 Electromagnetic interference (EMI)
shielding performance
The scattering parameters (S11 and S21) of the shield
material were obtained using the vector network
analyzer (VNA) system. This scattering parameter
measures the attenuation and dissipation efficiency
of shielding material at the time when the EM wave
project into the surface of the shield within a certain
frequency range. The total shielding effectiveness
(SET) of an EM wave absorbent is defined as the sum
of SE due to reflection (SER), absorption (SEA), and
multiple internal reflections (SEM), respectively [24].
SET ðdBÞ ¼ SER ðdBÞ þ SEA ðdBÞ þ SEM ðdBÞ ð1Þ
The term SEM can be canceled out when SEA is
greater than 10 dB (SEA C 10) [38]. Reflection (R) and
the transmission coefficient (T) parameters of mate-
rial are strongly related to absorption coefficient (A),
and can be expressed as A = 1–R–T.
R ¼ jS11 j2 ¼ jS22 j2
and
T ¼ jS12 j2 ¼ jS21 j2
The R and T-parameters were used to calculate SER
and SEA values. The relative complex permeability
(lr), electrical conductivity (rac), skin depth (d), and
the thickness of the shield material (t) is strongly
related to the SER and SEA parameter as [5]:
  ! value shows higher than the SER values and could be
1 1
SER ¼ 10 log ¼ 10 log
ð1  RÞ 1  jS11 j2
 
rac
¼ 10 log ð2Þ
16xe0 lr
  !
1R 1  jS11 j2
SEA ¼ 10 log ¼ 10 log
T jS21 j2
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  
ðxlr rac Þ t
¼ 20t ¼ 8:68 ð3Þ
2 d
Further, the ac electrical conductivity (rac) of the
material is directly connected to the dielectric loss
parameter (e00 ) and can be expressed as rac ¼ xeo e00 .
The depth of penetration or skin-depth (d) of shield
materials is mainly governed by frequency (f), elec-
trical conductivity (rac), and permeability (l), and can
p n o
2 t
be expressed as d ¼ prxl 0 ¼ 8:68 . If the thick-
SEA
ness of the shield material (t) is very low compared to
the skin-depth (t \\ d), then total EMI SE mecha-
nism mainly related to the reflection (SER) of micro-
waves from the surface of the shield material [5]. On
the other hand, when t is very high compared to the
skin-depth (t [[ d), then total EMI SE is caused by
the reflection (SER), absorption (SEA), and multiple
internal reflection (SEM) mechanism in the measured
frequency range.
Figure 6 shows the variation of EMI SE parameters
as a function of frequency for all the samples in the
microwave range of 8.0–12.0 GHz. For better micro-
wave shielding materials, less SER and higher SEA
value provide strong contributions in total EMI SE
value. From experimental results, 20% Co@MoS2/
rGO nanocomposite shows higher SER value lies in
the range of 8.05 to 5.98 dB. On the other side, pure
MoS2/rGO nanocomposite demonstrates the lower
value in the range of 6.20 to 4.95 dB, as shown in
Fig. 6a. Figure 6b shows the SEA value for pure
MoS2/rGO nanocomposite and is found to vary from
19.87 to 23.91 dB over the entire measured band. On
the other hand, SEA value gradually increases with
increasing Co-doping percentage and reaches up to
32.11, and 39.80 dB for 15% and 20% Co@MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite. For all synthesized samples, SEA
attributed to a very low skin-depth. The reflection of
EM waves (SER) is directly proportional to the ac
electrical conductivity and inversely proportional to
rac
the relative complex permeability w l . The absorption
r
of EM waves (SEA) is proportional to the thickness of
the shielding material, conductivity, and permeabil-
pffiffiffiffiffiffi
ity t rac lr , respectively [42, 43]. A higher value of
SER and SEA strongly depends on the two parame-
ters, rac and lr. Both SER and SEA value increases

Fig. 6 Represents the frequency dependence of the EMI shielding effectiveness of a SER, b SEA, and c SET values of the as-prepared
nanocomposite
with increases Co-doping percentage, and effectively
improve rac and lr parameter. These play a crucial
role in the enhancement of electromagnetic interfer-
ence shielding performance.
The plots of SEA and SET for all the samples show a
similar variation of nature in the entire frequency
range. The trend of SER value was found to
decreasing with frequency, while SEA and SET value
increases for all synthesized samples. The higher
value of SEA shows the increase in absorption ability
and is the favor for strong attenuation and dissipa-
tion capability of incoming EM energy inside the
shielding material. Thus, the total SET achieved by
the 15% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite is 38.26 dB.
While for 20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite, SET
was found 46.02 dB. Both values are significantly
higher than by the pure MoS2/rGO nanocomposite,
which is around 28.90 dB, as shown in Fig. 6c. All the
synthesized samples are effectively used for better
EMI shielding purposes at the high-frequency range.
It is due to the high concentration of Co-doping,
which significantly improves ac electrical conductiv-
ity and magnetic permeability of the as-synthesized
samples. The SE of the Co-doped MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite depends mainly on the doping per-
centage of Co content. Higher doping percentage of
Co ions shows excellent absorption capability. Hence,
the 20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite can be
widely used for commercial EMI shielding applica-
tions in the measured frequency range.
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron
3.4 AC electrical conductivity and skin-
depth analysis
The ac electrical conductivity (rac) and skin-depth (d)
of the shield material play a crucial role in enhancing
microwave shielding ability. Figure 7a shows the
variation of electrical conductivity as a function of
frequency. The result indicated that the electrical
conductivity of Co-doped samples successively
increases with increasing doping percentage of Co
ions. Pure MoS2/rGO nanocomposite demonstrates
lower electrical conductivity and is found to be 72
Sm-1. Whereas 15% and 20% Co@MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite shows higher value is about 123 and
147 S m-1, respectively. The actual role of Co-doping
is to optimize the electrical conductivity and mag-
netic permeability, which is a favor for the less SE
due to reflection and higher absorption from the
surface of the shielding material. Higher electrical
conductivity and magnetic permeability are benefi-
cial for the more efficient charge transportability at
the interfaces. The variation of skin-depth plots with
frequency is shown in Fig. 7b. The skin-depth plots
for all the samples show identical variation trends
with frequency. The higher skin-depth value is found
to be 0.74 mm for the pure MoS2/rGO nanocom-
posite. But for 15% and 20% Co@MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite, the skin-depth value decreases with
the doping percentage of Co-ions and is obtained
about 0.53 and 0.45 mm, respectively. Thus, 20%
Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite demonstrates the
higher electrical conductivity and magnetic perme-
ability to play a significant role in thin skin-depth and
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron

Fig. 7 Represents the

frequency dependence of
a electrical conductivity (rac),
and b skin-depth (d) for all
prepared samples in the
microwave frequency range

displayed higher EMI SE ability within the shielding concerned to the dissipation ability of the EM energy
material. within medium under an EM field [6, 7]. The
dielectric loss abilities of microwave absorbing
3.5 Electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption materials are the result of several complex phenom-
performance ena such as electronic polarization, dipole polariza-
tion, conductance loss, and interfacial polarization.
The basic EM wave absorption performance for any On the other side, the magnetic loss abilities of an
absorbing materials are closely related to the EM absorbing material are mainly associated with the
parameters, including relative complex permittivity eddy current loss, natural resonance loss, magnetic
(er) and permeability (lr), and described by the fol- hysteresis loss, and anisotropy energy loss [44].
lowing Eq. (4): Figure 8 shows the variation of relative complex
ðes  e1 Þ permittivity (er = e0 – je00 ) and permeability (lr = l0 –
er ¼ e1 þ ¼ e0  je00
1 þ jxs ð4Þ jl00 ) parameters with frequency for all synthesized
and lr ¼ l0  jl00 samples. It is obvious in Fig. 8a that 15% and 20%
Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite reaches the higher e0
The real (e0 ) and imaginary (e00 ) term of the complex value about 230 and 333 with a small resonance peak.
permittivity were calculated using the Debye dipolar But pure MoS2/rGO nanocomposite represents a
relaxation mechanism to explain the microwave lower value around 129. Higher e0 value suggests that
absorption properties of the absorbers can be the storage ability of EM energy has been enhanced.
expressed as [38]: Our experimental results show that the value of e00
was much higher for 15% and 20% Co@MoS2/rGO
ðes  e1 Þ
e0 ¼ e1 þ ð5Þ nanocomposite and estimated about 208 and 246,
ð1 þ x2 s2 Þ
respectively. On the other hand, pure MoS2/rGO
and nanocomposite exhibited a lower e00 value and was
ðes  e1 Þxs r achieved about 122 over the entire frequency range.
e00 ¼ 2 2
þ ð6Þ For the 20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite, both e0
ð1 þ x s Þ xe0
and e00 value increases significantly and may be
where, r denotes electrical conductivity, x is the attributed to the high electrical conductivity, induced
angular frequency (x = 2gf), es static permittivity, and electric, ionic, and dipole polarization [45]. Very high
eo show permittivity of free space (eo = 8.85 9 10–12 F e00 value suggests that the 20% Co@MoS2/rGO
m-1), respectively. The real (e0 ) and imaginary (e00 ) nanocomposite shows a strong ability of dielectric
term of the complex permittivity are frequency loss property and higher conversion ability of the
(f) dependence. The real term e0 and l0 are related incident EM energy. In Fig. 8d, the l0 value has a
with the storage ability of EM energy through wave decreasing tendency and has achieved lower value at
propagation, and imaginary term e00 and l00 are

Fig. 8 a, b Relative complex permittivity, and d, e permeability parameter of as-fabricated samples, and corresponding losses c tande and
f tandl at 8.0–12.0 GHz
10.4 GHz and further increases abruptly with fre-
quency showing similar trends for all the samples.
 00 
The dielectric loss tangent tande ¼ ee0 and magnetic
tandl value has been increased by 20% Co@MoS2/
loss tangent = tandl ¼ l00
l 0 were calculated using er
and lr, and represent the loss abilities of the micro-
wave absorbent, and shown in Fig. 8c, f. For 20%
Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite, the value of l00
(Fig. 8e) and tandl (Fig. 8f) is higher than those
obtained for the pure MoS2/rGO nanocomposite. The
magnetic properties of materials have improved as
we increase the doping percentage of Co-ions and
thus results in higher magnetic loss ability of the EM
energy. The EM wave attenuation and dissipation
ability of the absorbing materials can be effectively
tuned by changing the doping percentage of mag-
netic metals. In this work, Co-ions activate tiny
dipoles and get polarized under the influence of the
EM field to improve attenuation and dissipation loss
ability [46]. The low value of l00 and tandl for pure
MoS2/rGO nanocomposite may be due to lack of
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron
magnetic component. The curve variation nature of e00
and l00 was similar to that of tande and tandl. In
Fig. 8c, f, the tande value slightly decreases, while
rGO nanocomposite. Doping of Co-ions into the
MoS2 lattice can optimize the electrical conductivity
and magnetic permeability for proper balancing of
impedance matching characteristics. In this way, the
tande and tandl value should be in equal magnitude
by adjusting the doping percentage of Co-ion. The
most significant role of Co-ions is to constructing an
excellent conductive and magnetic network between
Co-doped MoS2 and rGO nanosheet in Co@MoS2/
rGO nanocomposite. This hetero-junction network
contributes to migration and hopping of charge car-
riers existing at the interfaces or defects under the
influence of an EM field. Figure 8e, f represents the
negative value of l00 and tandl for pure MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite in the whole X-band range, suggest-
ing that most of the incoming magnetic energy is
radiated out from the samples [47]. The l00 and tandl
J Mater Sci: Mater Electron
value first increases with frequency and achieved
higher value at 10.4 GHz, and then decreases for all
the samples. From these obtained results, it can be
concluded that 20% Co@MoS2/rGO nanocomposite
exhibits a higher ability to attenuate and dissipate the
stored EM energy into heat energy or other kinds of
energy. This shielding material is beneficial for the
high-efficiency EM wave attenuation and EMI SE,
thereby resulting in good for practical shielding
applications.
High-performance EM wave attenuation and EMI
SE properties have been strongly dependent on the
following reasons. Constructing 3D Co@MoS2/rGO
heterogeneous structure can enlarge the surface area
with large number of interfaces and more absorption
sites due to abundant lattice defect and polarization
charges on the surface. Co-doping increases magnetic
content and balance dielectric and magnetic loss
value, thus achieve good impedance matching char-
acteristics. Co-doping plays a positive role, and
shows the lattice shrinkage of MoS2 and generates
more atomic defects in the MoS2. At last, Co-ions acts
as a conductive and magnetic filler to enhance
migration and hopping of charge carriers at the
multi-interfaces. Such type of shielding material
shows a great part of the incident EM energy con-
sumed through constant multiple internal reflection
and scattering at defective sites. Above mentioned
reasons prove that the Co-doped MoS2 nanosheet
anchored on the surface reduced graphene oxide can
enhance electromagnetic wave absorbing and
shielding efficiency significantly.
4 Conclusions
In summary, Co-doped MoS2/rGO nanocomposite
was successfully synthesized by a simple and facile
hydrothermal reaction to study their microwave
shielding properties. The crystal structure,
microstructure, and microwave shielding properties
of the as-prepared materials were examined by
employing various characteristic tools. Both electrical
conductivity and magnetic permeability have found
to increase with increasing doping content of Co-ions.
It also demonstrates that 15% and 20% Co@MoS2/
rGO nanocomposite exhibit higher EMI SE values as
SET * 38.26, and * 46.02 dB, respectively, while
pure MoS2/rGO nanocomposite possesses a lower
value up to * 28.90 dB. The doping of Co-ions plays
a positive role in creating abundant defects and
multi-interfacial polarization in the MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite, which support the migration and
hopping of electrons at the interfaces. Co-doped
MoS2/rGO nanocomposite constructs a 3D multi-in-
terface structure with a large surface area, which
leads to multiple internal reflections, scattering
among interface and void. Therefore, more micro-
wave energy gets consumed within the shield
through absorbing. Henceforth, 20% Co@MoS2/rGO
nanocomposite exhibits high-efficiency EMI shield-
ing properties and prospects for potential applica-
tions in radar wave absorption and information
communication devices.
Acknowledgements
We are thankful to the Science and Engineering
Research Board (Project No. EEQ/2016/000652)
Govt. of India, for financial support. Jagdees Prasad
acknowledges the award of Senior Research Fellow-
ship of UGC. We are also thankful to AIRF, JNU, to
provide all the essential characteristic features.
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest The authors declare no com-
peting financial interests.
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