The copper oxide/cobalt/carbon fiber multilayer film composites were synthesized by thermal oxidation route. In order to investigate the intrinsic reasons for microwave absorption properties of absorbers, the complex permittivity, complex permeability and the microwave absorption properties of composites were studied in the 1-18 GHz range. The strongest reflectivity loss (RL) of microwave absorber was further enhanced to -42.7 dB (microwave absorption rate >99.9%) at 10.8 GHz for a layer of 2.0 mm thickness, and the strong absorption (RL < -10 dB) was obtained between 8.72 and 18 GHz for the thickness of 1.3-2.2 mm. The results indicated that the dielectric loss and magnetic loss led to the excellent microwave absorption property of CuO/Co/CF composites. It is believed to be ideal for making a lightweight, strong absorption and wide-frequency microwave absorbing material. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.