Conductive and dielectric SiC are fabricated using electroless plating of Ni–Fe films on SiC chopped fibers to obtain lightweight and high-strength microwave absorbers. The electroless plating of Ni–Fe films is achieved using a two-step process of surface sensitizing and metal plating. The complex permeability and permittivity are measured for the composite specimens with the metalized SiC chopped fibers dispersed in a silicone rubber matrix. The original noncoated SiC fibers exhibit considerable dielectric losses. The complex permeability spectrum does not change significantly with the Ni–Fe coating. Moreover, dielectric constant is sensitively increased with Ni–Fe coating, owing to the increase of the space charge polarization. The improvements in absorption capability (lower reflection loss and small matching thickness) are evident with Ni–Fe coating on SiC fibers. For the composite SiC fibers coated with Ni–Fe thin films, a -35 dB reflection loss is predicted at 7.6 GHz with a matching thickness of 4 mm.

Abstract
 1. Introduction
 2. Experimental Procedure
 3. Results and Discussion
 4. Conclusions
 References

• Tian Liu(Department of Advanced Materials Engineering, Chungbuk National University)
• Sung-Soo Kim(Department of Advanced Materials Engineering, Chungbuk National University) Corresponding Author
• Woo-cheal Choi(DACC Carbon Co. Ltd.)
• Byungil Yoon(DACC Carbon Co. Ltd.)