Page 135 - MSAM-4-3

Materials Science in

Additive Manufacturing

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Sunflower-inspired composite metastructure for

broadband microwave absorption fabricated via
fused deposition modeling

1,2
1,2
3
Pengfei Fang , Fei Wang *, Zhe Zhang , Kaiyong Jiang , and Peifeng Li *
1,2
1,2
1 Fujian Key Laboratory of Special Energy Manufacturing, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
2 Xiamen Key Laboratory of Digital Vision Measurement, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
3 James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

Microwave-absorbing structures are increasingly vital for applications such as
electromagnetic protection, stealth technology, and wireless communications.
However, their broader adoption is often limited by drawbacks such as excessive
thickness, narrow absorption bandwidth, and high manufacturing costs. This
study presents the design, fabrication, and evaluation of a sunflower-inspired
*Corresponding authors: metastructure for broadband microwave absorption, achieved via fused
Fei Wang
(wangfei@hqu.edu.cn) deposition modeling three-dimensional printing. The metastructure, inspired
Peifeng Li by the spiral geometry of sunflower seed arrangements, integrates multi-
(peifeng.li@glasgow.ac.uk) layered, gradient spiral elements composed of carbon black-carbonyl iron
Citation: Fang P, Wang F, Zhang Z, powder/polylactic acid (CB-CIP/PLA) composites. Electromagnetic simulations
Jiang K, Li P. Sunflower-inspired were employed to systematically optimize key structural parameters, including
composite metastructure for
broadband microwave absorption the gradient impedance increment and individual layer thicknesses, to maximize
fabricated via fused deposition absorption efficiency. Both simulated and experimental results demonstrate
modeling. Mater Sci Add Manuf. that the absorber achieves an effective absorption bandwidth of 12.13 GHz
2025;4(3):025220048.
doi: 10.36922/MSAM025220048 (5.87 – 18.00 GHz) with reflection loss below 10 dB, covering the C, X, and Ku
frequency bands. The performance is attributed to the synergistic effects of
Received: May 31, 2025
interfacial polarization and natural magnetic resonance within the CB-CIP/
Revised: June 16, 2025 PLA composite. The metastructure also exhibits stable, wide-angle absorption
Accepted: June 23, 2025 properties, maintaining bandwidths exceeding 10 GHz for incident angles up to
50° under both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations. The
Published Online: August 1, 2025
proposed sunflower-inspired design demonstrates significant advantages in
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). bandwidth-to-thickness ratio, fabrication efficiency, and polarization insensitivity
This is an Open-Access article compared to conventional biomimetic absorbers. These findings highlight the
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution promise of bio-inspired design strategies for developing lightweight, efficient,
License, permitting distribution, broadband microwave absorbers, providing valuable reference for future
and reproduction in any medium, advancements in the field.
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience Keywords: Sunflower-inspired metastructure; Broadband microwave absorption;
Publishing remains neutral with Composite metamaterial; 3D printing; Gradient impedance; Wide-angle absorption; Bio-
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional inspired design
affiliations.

Volume 4 Issue 3 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/MSAM025220048