Lightweight and high-efficiency microwave absorbers are determined by structure and composition of materials. In this research, a novel core-shell ZnFe2O4@MoS2 composite with a flower-like heterostructure was synthesized successfully by a facile hydrothermal process. The unique 3D heterostructure (porous ZnFe2O4 and MoS2 nanosheets as core and outer shells, respectively) endows the synthesized sample with high-efficiency electromagnetic wave absorption performance. The exploration of microwave absorption properties reveals that the maximum reflection loss displayed by the ZnFe2O4@MoS2 composite is up to-61.8 dB at 9.5 GHz with a filler content of 20 wt%, and the corresponding effective bandwidth (RL exceeding-10 dB) achieves 5.8 GHz (from 7.2 to 13 GHz). The enhanced microwave absorption performance is benefitted by the porous core-shell structure, intense interfacial polarization, multiple reflections, matched impedance and favorable synergistic effect between ZnFe2O4 core and MoS2 shell. Consequently, this strategy provides inspiration for the design of novel microwave absorber with highperformance. (c) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.