Microwave Absorption Study of Carbon Nano Materials Synthesized from Natural Oils

Thin films of carbon-nano materials (CNMs) of different morphology have been successfully deposited on ceramic substrate by CVD at temperatures $800^{\circ}C$, $850^{\circ}C$ and $900^{\circ}C$ using plant based oils in the presence of transition metal catalysts (Ni, Co and Ni/Co alloys). Based on the return and insertion loss, microwave absorption properties of thin film of nanocarbon material are measured using passive micro-Strip line components. The result indicates that amongst CNMs synthesized from oil of natural precursors (mustered oil - Brassica napus, Karanja oil - Pongamia glabra, Cotton oil - Gossipium hirsuta and Neem oil - Azadirachta indica) carbon nano fibers obtained from neem's seed oil showed better microwave absorption (~20dB) in the range of 8.0 GHz to 17.90 GHz.