Suppressing loss tangent with significantly enhanced dielectric permittivity of poly(vinylidene fluoride) by filling with Au-Na1/2Y1/2Cu3Ti4O12 hybrid particles

Characterizations and Significantly Enhanced Dielectric Properties of PVDF Polymer Nanocomposites by Incorporating Gold Nanoparticles Deposited on BaTiO3 Nanoparticles

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanocomposites were fabricated by incorporating BaTiO3 nanoparticles (particle size of ~100 nm, nBT), which were deposited by Au nanoparticles (nAu) with an average particle size of 17.8 ± 4.0 nm using a modified Turkevich method. Systematic characterizations on the synthesized nAu-nBT hybrid nanoparticles and nAu-nBT/PVDF nanocomposites with different contents of a filler were performed. The formation of nAu-nBT hybrid nanoparticles was confirmed with the calculated nAu:nBT ratio of 0.5:99.5 wt.%. The homogeneous dispersion of nAu and nBT in the PVDF polymer was obtained due to the interaction between the negative surface charge of the nAu-nBT filler (compared to that of the nBT) and polar β-PVDF phase, which was confirmed by the zeta potential measurement and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. A significantly increased dielectric permittivity (ε' ~ 120 at 103 Hz) with a slight temperature-dependent of <±15% ranging from -20 to 140 °C was obtained. Notably, a low loss tangent (tanδ < 0.08) was obtained even at a high temperature of 140 °C. Therefore, incorporating a PVDF polymer with nAu-nBT hybrid nanoparticles is an attractive method to improve the dielectric properties of a PVDF polymer for dielectrics applications.

Effects of Sub-Micro Sized BaTiO3 Blocking Particles and Ag-Deposited Nano-Sized BaTiO3 Hybrid Particles on Dielectric Properties of Poly(vinylidene-fluoride) Polymer

This work provided an alternative route to balance the significantly increased dielectric permittivity (ε') and effectively retained tanδ using an effective two-step concept. Ag-deposited nano-sized BaTiO3 (Ag-nBT) hybrid particle was used as the first filler to increase the ε' of the poly(vinylidene-fluoride) (PVDF) polymer via the strong interfacial polarization and a high permittivity of nBT and suppress the increased loss tangent (tanδ) owing to the discrete growth of Ag nanoparticles on the surface of nBT, preventing a continuous percolating path. The ε' and tanδ values at 103 Hz of the Ag-nBT/PVDF composite with fAg-nBT~0.29 were 61.7 and 0.036. The sub-micron-sized BaTiO3 (μBT) particle was selected as the blocking particles to doubly reduce the tanδ with simultaneously enhanced ε' due to the presence of the tetragonal BT phase. The μBT blocking particles can effectively further inhibit the formation of conducting network and hence further reducing tanδ. By incorporation of μBT clocking particles with fμBT = 0.2, the ε' value of the Ag-nBT/PVDF-μBT composite (fAg-nBT = 0.30) can significantly increase to 161.4, while the tanδ was reduced to 0.026. Furthermore, the tanδ was lower than 0.09 in the temperature range of -60-150 °C due to the blocking effect of μBT particles.

Significantly Improved Colossal Dielectric Properties and Maxwell-Wagner Relaxation of TiO2-Rich Na1/2Y1/2Cu3Ti4+xO12 Ceramics

In this work, the colossal dielectric properties and Maxwell-Wagner relaxation of TiO2-rich Na1/2Y1/2Cu3Ti4+xO12 (x = 0-0.2) ceramics prepared by a solid-state reaction method are investigated. A single phase of Na1/2Y1/2Cu3Ti4O12 is achieved without the detection of any impurity phase. The highly dense microstructure is obtained, and the mean grain size is significantly reduced by a factor of 10 by increasing Ti molar ratio, resulting in an increased grain boundary density and hence grain boundary resistance (Rgb). The colossal permittivities of ε' ~ 0.7-1.4 × 104 with slightly dependent on frequency in the frequency range of 102-106 Hz are obtained in the TiO2-rich Na1/2Y1/2Cu3Ti4+xO12 ceramics, while the dielectric loss tangent is reduced to tanδ ~ 0.016-0.020 at 1 kHz due to the increased Rgb. The semiconducting grain resistance (Rg) of the Na1/2Y1/2Cu3Ti4+xO12 ceramics increases with increasing x, corresponding to the decrease in Cu+/Cu2+ ratio. The nonlinear electrical properties of the TiO2-rich Na1/2Y1/2Cu3Ti4+xO12 ceramics can also be improved. The colossal dielectric and nonlinear electrical properties of the TiO2-rich Na1/2Y1/2Cu3Ti4+xO12 ceramics are explained by the Maxwell-Wagner relaxation model based on the formation of the Schottky barrier at the grain boundary.

Enhanced dielectric properties with a significantly reduced loss tangent in (Mg2+, Al3+) co-doped CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics: DFT and experimental investigations

CaCu3Ti4O12 and CaCu2.95Mg0.05Ti3.95Al0.05O12 ceramics were fabricated via a solid-state reaction method. A single-phase of CaCu3Ti4O12 was found in these two ceramics. Very great grain size expansion was produced by co-doping with Mg2+ and Al3+. DFT results indicate that both Mg and Al atoms preferentially occupy Cu sites, creating liquid-phase sintering decomposition at grain boundary layers. Very high dielectric permittivity of ∼58 397 and low loss tangent of about 0.047 were achieved in a CaCu2.95Mg0.05Ti3.95Al0.05O12 ceramic. Additionally, the temperature stability of the dielectric response was improved. Better dielectric properties in the co-doped ceramic have possible origins from enhanced grain boundary responses, especially from the influences of metastable phases and oxygen enrichment at the grain boundaries. Experimental and computational results indicate that the colossal dielectric properties in CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics might be correlated with an internal barrier layer capacitor structure.

Significantly Enhanced Dielectric Properties of Ag-Deposited (In1/2Nb1/2)0.1Ti0.9O2/PVDF Polymer Composites

The enhanced dielectric permittivity (ε') while retaining a low loss tangent (tanδ) in silver nanoparticle-(In1/2Nb1/2)0.1Ti0.9O2/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (Ag-INTO/PVDF) composites with different volume fractions of a filler (fAg-INTO) was investigated. The hybrid particles were fabricated by coating Ag nanoparticles onto the surface of INTO particles, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The ε' of the Ag-INTO/PVDF composites could be significantly enhanced to ~86 at 1 kHz with a low tanδ of ~0.044. The enhanced ε' value was approximately >8-fold higher than that of the pure PVDF polymer for the composite with fAg-INTO = 0.5. Furthermore, ε' was nearly independent of frequency in the range of 102-106 Hz. Therefore, filling Ag-INTO hybrid particles into a PVDF matrix is an effective way to increase ε' while retaining a low tanδ of polymer composites. The effective medium percolation theory model can be used to fit the experimental ε' values with various fAg-INTO values. The greatly increased ε' primarily originated from interfacial polarization at the conducting Ag nanoparticle-PVDF and Ag-INTO interfaces, and it was partially contributed by the high ε' of INTO particles. A low tanδ was obtained because the formation of the conducting network in the polymer was inhibited by preventing the direct contact of Ag nanoparticles.