Three-dimensional (3D) carbon-based materials have attracted growing attention in the field of electromagnetic wave absorption applications. However, their high conductivity results in high dielectric constant, leading to impedance mismatching, and this characteristic finally weakens their electromagnetic wave absorption performance. In this work, 3D carbon foam (3DCF) was successfully prepared by calcining the melamine foam as the carbon framework precursor under N-2 atmosphere. Subsequently, 1T-2H MoS2 nanosheets were uniformly assembled on the surface of the 3DCF skeleton through a solvothermal process. The diameter of the 3DCF skeleton was about 1 mu m and the thickness of the 1T-2H MoS2 on the surface was about 150 nm. The 3D network brings in many advantages for microwave attenuation, including numerous conductive pathways, excellent impedance matching and multi-polarization processes. The composites exhibited a maximum reflection loss (RLmax) of -45.88 dB at 10.2 GHz with the thickness of 2.2 mm, and the effective absorbing bandwidth (E-AB) was as wide as 5.68 GHz, implying their superb microwave absorption behavior. This work is believed to offer a strategy for the design of efficient 3D electromagnetic wave absorbers with low density in the future. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.