Abstract
The interface between the polymer and the particle has a critical role in altering the properties of a composite dielectric. Polymer-ceramic nanocomposites are promising dielectric materials for many electronic and power devices, combining the high dielectric constant of ceramic particles with the high dielectric breakdown strength of a polymer. Self-assembled monolayers of electron rich or electron poor organophosphate coupling groups were applied to affect the filler–polymer interface and investigate the role of this interface on composite behavior. The interface has potential to influence dielectric properties, in particular the leakage and breakdown resistance. The composite films synthesized from the modified filler particles dispersed into an epoxy polymer matrix were analyzed by dielectric spectroscopy, breakdown strength, and leakage current measurements. The data indicate that significant reduction in leakage currents and dielectric losses and improvement in dielectric breakdown strengths resulted when electropositive phenyl, electron-withdrawing functional groups were located at the polymer–particle interface. At a 30 vol % particle concentration, dielectric composite films yielded a maximum energy density of ∼8 J·cm–3 for TiO2-epoxy nanocomposites and ∼9.5 J·cm–3 for BaTiO3-epoxy nanocomposites.
Recommended Citation
S. Siddabattuni et al., "Dielectric Properties of Polymer–Particle Nanocomposites Influenced by Electronic Nature of Filler Surfaces," ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, vol. 5, no. 6, American Chemical Society, Mar 2013.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1021/am3030239
Department(s)
Chemistry
Second Department
Materials Science and Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Interface; Organophosphate; Dielectric Breakdown; Permittivity; Energy Density
Subject Headings
Composites, Insulators, Nanoparticles, Organic Polymers, Oxides
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2026 American Chemical Society, All rights reserved
Publication Date
2013-03-27
Comments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation, as part of the Pennsylvania State University-Missouri S&T I/UCRC for Dielectric Studies under Grant 0628817, Sub-Award No. 2164-UM-NSF-0812 and by U.S. Office of Naval Research award No. N00014-11-1-0494. The authors acknowledge the assistance of Phalgun Lolur and Richard Dawes for electrostatic potential map simulations, Vladimir Petrovsky for assistance with leakage current measurements, and analytical support provided by the Materials Research Center facilities at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Microtome and TEM images were provided by Juliana Vinson at the Electron Microscopy Core Facility at University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.