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Page 2 of 25 Hao et al. Soft Sci. 2025, 5, 39 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/ss.2025.48

capabilities.

Keywords: Mesoscopic, metacomposites, microwave absorbing materials, dispersion and distribution, multiple
reflection-scattering

INTRODUCTION
The rapid development of modern electronic devices and wireless communication technologies has
[1,2]
intensified the challenges associated with electromagnetic wave pollution . Significant advancements in
radar technology have posed challenges to the survivability of advanced aviation weapons, thereby
[3-5]
necessitating the development of high-performance microwave absorbing materials (MAMs) . As a
specialized category of functional materials, MAMs operate by efficiently converting incident
electromagnetic wave energy into heat or other forms of energy through mechanisms such as dielectric loss
and magnetic loss, while simultaneously suppressing electromagnetic wave reflection to achieve superior
absorption performance . Traditional MAMs are predominantly classified into two categories: magnetic
[6-8]
loss materials and dielectric loss materials. Magnetic loss materials, which include ferrites and carbonyl iron,
dissipate electromagnetic wave energy through mechanisms such as hysteresis loss, eddy current loss, and
natural resonance phenomena [9-11] . However, these materials face significant limitations including high
density and challenging processability [12,13] . Notably, their magnetic properties deteriorate considerably in
high-temperature environments due to constraints imposed by the Curie temperature; this limitation
renders them inadequate for meeting the demands of complex operational conditions [14,15] .

In contrast, dielectric loss materials (e.g., carbon-based materials, conductive polymers, metal oxides) have
emerged as prominent research hotspots in recent years owing to their advantages of low density, strong
designability, and exceptional high-temperature stability [16-18] . The primary mechanism for attenuating
electromagnetic waves involves polarization relaxation loss and conductive loss, and their absorption
performance can be optimized through structural design and component regulation . However, dielectric
[19]
MAMs still encounter two critical challenges: (1) the inherent trade-off between impedance matching and
attenuation capability, which hinders simultaneous achievement of robust dielectric loss and robust
[20]
impedance matching across a wide temperature range ; (2) the difficulty in precisely controlling filler
dispersion within the matrix leads to inevitable agglomeration and resultant inhomogeneous performance.
Therefore, it is imperative to innovate design concepts and develop novel composites that integrate
excellent impedance matching with efficient attenuation through multi-component and multi-structural
synergistic design. This approach aims to overcome the performance bottlenecks associated with traditional
MAMs.

In recent years, bioinspired structures have attracted great attention from researchers [21-24] . In nature, certain
flora and fauna have evolved photonics microstructures that facilitate precise manipulation of
electromagnetic waves . For instance, the compound eyes of moths exhibit unique anti-reflection
[25]
properties, which have inspired researchers to develop photonic structures within the visible light
spectrum [26-28] . From the fundamental perspective of electromagnetic-wave-matter interaction, optical
subwavelength structure presents innovative approaches for designing advanced MAMs. Mesoscopic
metacomposites (MSMCs) particularly capitalize on this concept by translating photonics architectures into
mesoscopic dimensions, thereby enabling tunable microwave absorption through hierarchical structural
engineering . Specifically, MSMCs are composite materials composed of sub-wavelength-scale functional
[29]
units, where the primary feature is the discrete distribution of functional units within the matrix. Compared
to conventional MAMs, the advantages of MSMCs can be primarily attributed to several key factors. Firstly,