With the advances in space technology, weight reduction of components has been a paramount, yet challenging task. Additive manufacturing with high-performance polymers can realize lightweight and complex geometries that can also be manufactured on board. Yet polymers are electromagnetically inefficient for applications requiring electrical conductivity, such as guiding microwave signals. This work presents high-efficiency and lightweight additively-manufactured microwave components enabled by MXene coating. The waveguiding functionality was observed from 8 to 33 GHz, covering low earth orbit (LEO) frequencies, with a power-handling capability of up to 10 dB and a transmission coefficient of 93 %. After a single dip-coating cycle, the polymer waveguide performed only 2 % below an eight times heavier metallic equivalent. Frequency/polarization filtering was enabled by implementing special geometries, and a range of microwave functionalities, including resonance, was demonstrated. The MXene-coated components can replace 3D-printed and bulk metals, greatly decreasing weight and cost in space, and also in various terrestrial applications.

中文翻译：

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MXene 引导微波穿过 3D 聚合物结构

随着空间技术的进步，减轻部件重量已成为一项至关重要但具有挑战性的任务。使用高性能聚合物进行增材制造可以实现轻质且复杂的几何形状，这些几何形状也可以在船上制造。然而，对于需要导电性的应用（例如引导微波信号）来说，聚合物的电磁效率较低。这项工作展示了通过 MXene 涂层实现的高效、轻质增材制造微波组件。在 8 至 33 GHz 范围内观察到波导功能，覆盖低地球轨道 (LEO) 频率，功率处理能力高达 10 dB，传输系数为 93%。经过一次浸涂循环后，聚合物波导的性能仅比八倍重的金属波导低 2%。通过实施特殊的几何形状实现了频率/偏振滤波，并演示了包括谐振在内的一系列微波功能。 MXene 涂层组件可以取代 3D 打印和散装金属，大大降低太空以及各种地面应用的重量和成本。