Yolk–shell Fe₃O₄@N-doped carbon nanochains, intended for application as a novel microwave-absorption material, have been constructed by a three-step method. Magnetic-field-induced distillation-precipitation polymerization was used to synthesize nanochains with a one-dimensional (1D) structure. Then, a polypyrrole shell was uniformly applied to the surface of the nanochains through oxidant-directed vapor-phase polymerization, and finally the pyrolysis process was completed. The obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) to confirm the compositions. The morphology and microstructure were observed using an optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The N₂ absorption–desorption isotherms indicate a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area of 74 m²/g and a pore width of 5–30 nm. Investigations of the microwave absorption performance indicate that paraffin-based composites loaded with 20 wt.% yolk–shell Fe₃O₄@N-doped carbon nanochains possess a minimum reflection loss of −63.09 dB (11.91 GHz) and an effective absorption bandwidth of 5.34 GHz at a matching layer thickness of 3.1 mm. In addition, by tailoring the layer thicknesses, the effective absorption frequency bands can be made to cover most of the C, X, and Ku bands. By offering the advantages of stronger absorption, broad absorption bandwidth, low loading, thin layers, and intrinsic light weight, yolk–shell Fe₃O₄@N-doped carbon nanochains will be excellent candidates for practical application to microwave absorption. An analysis of the microwave absorption mechanism reveals that the excellent microwave absorption performance can be explained by the quarter-wavelength cancellation theory, good impedance matching, intense conductive loss, multiple reflections and scatterings, dielectric loss, magnetic loss, and microwave plasma loss.

Low-dielectric polyimide (PI) is on high demand in the next generation of high-density and high-speed integrated circuits. The introduction of fluorine or pores into PIs has been reported to efficiently obtain low-dielectric properties, but unavoidably deteriorate the mechanical and/or thermal properties. Therefore, it is a great challenge for PI to decrease its D_k and simultaneously maintain its mechanical and thermal properties. Herein, a series of robust PI films were fabricated by copolymerizing amine-functionalized hyperbranched polysiloxane (HBPSi) with pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) and 4,4′-oxydianiline (ODA). The outstanding dielectric properties were achieved in a 35 wt% HBPSi PI film, which exhibits a D_k as low as 2.24 (1 MHz), mainly owing to the enhanced free volume and dielectric confinement effect afforded by the bulky HBPSi. Meanwhile, 35 wt% HBPSi PI demonstrates remarkable thermal stability and admirable mechanical properties, with the glass transition temperature of 388 °C, 5% weight loss temperature in argon flow up to 554 °C, a tensile strength of 80.6 MPa, elongation at break of 13.7% and a tensile modulus of 1.36 GPa. It also demonstrates conspicuous film homogeneity and planarity with the surface roughness as low as 0.42 nm and good moisture resistance with water uptake less than 1.5%. The prominent comprehensive properties make HBPSi PI a strong candidate for the future interlayer dielectrics.

Mechanically strong yet rehealable and recyclable thermosets were achieved through hybridization of rigid imide moieties and dynamic imine linkages.