Yongcun Zhou

Enhanced dielectric properties of BaTiO3/poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanocomposites for energy storage applications

In this work, homogeneous ceramics-polymer nanocomposites consisting of surface treated BaTiO3 (BT) particles as fillers and poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymer as matrix have been prepared using a solution casting process. The nanocomposites exhibit enhanced dielectric permittivity and reduced loss tangent. The frequency and temperature dependencies of the dielectric permittivity and loss tangent of the nanocomposites suggest that the introduced BT phase and interface areas contribute to the improvement of the dielectric responses. Meanwhile, the X-ray diffraction patterns and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) curves indicate that the incorporation of ceramic particles contributes to the decrease of the crystallite size, the increase of the crystallinity, and the shift of the crystallization temperature of the polymer matrix. Furthermore, the dielectric displacement and energy density of the nanocomposites are significantly enhanced and an energy density of 3.54 J/cm3 was obtained under an electric f...

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymer based nanocomposites with significantly reduced energy loss by filling with core-shell structured BaTiO3/SiO2 nanoparticles

Homogeneous ceramics-polymer nanocomposites comprising core-shell structured BaTiO3/SiO2 nanoparticles and a poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymer matrix have been prepared. The nanocomposite of 2 vol. % BaTiO3/SiO2 nanoparticles exhibits 46% reduced energy loss compared to that of BaTiO3 nanoparticles, and an energy density of 6.28 J/cm3, under an applied electric field of 340 MV/m. Coating SiO2 layers on the surface of BaTiO3 nanoparticles significantly reduces the energy loss of the nanocomposites under high applied electric field via reducing the Maxwell–Wagner–Sillars interfacial polarization and space charge polarization.

Enhanced high thermal conductivity and low permittivity of polyimide based composites by core-shell Ag@SiO2 nanoparticle fillers

A kind of polymer based composites was prepared by embedding the fillers of core-shell Ag@SiO2 nanoparticles into the polyimide (PI) matrix. The obtained Ag@SiO2/PI (50% vf of fillers) composites show remarkably improved high thermal conductivity and low relative permittivity. The maximum value of the thermal conductivity of composites is 7.88 W/(mK) and the relative permittivity and dielectric loss are about 11.7 and 0.015 at 1 MHz, respectively. Compared with self-passivated nanometer Al* particles composites, core-shell Ag@SiO2 nano-composite is beneficial to increase the thermal conductivity and reduce the permittivity of the composites. The relative mechanism was studied and discussed.

The use of polyimide-modified aluminum nitride fillers in AlN@PI/Epoxy composites with enhanced thermal conductivity for electronic encapsulation

Polymer modified fillers in composites has attracted the attention of numerous researchers. These fillers are composed of core-shell structures that exhibit enhanced physical and chemical properties that are associated with shell surface control and encapsulated core materials. In this study, we have described an apt method to prepare polyimide (PI)-modified aluminum nitride (AlN) fillers, AlN@PI. These fillers are used for electronic encapsulation in high performance polymer composites. Compared with that of untreated AlN composite, these AlN@PI/epoxy composites exhibit better thermal and dielectric properties. At 40 wt% of filler loading, the highest thermal conductivity of AlN@PI/epoxy composite reached 2.03 W/mK. In this way, the thermal conductivity is approximately enhanced by 10.6 times than that of the used epoxy matrix. The experimental results exhibiting the thermal conductivity of AlN@PI/epoxy composites were in good agreement with the values calculated from the parallel conduction model. This research work describes an effective pathway that modifies the surface of fillers with polymer coating. Furthermore, this novel technique improves the thermal and dielectric properties of fillers and these can be used extensively for electronic packaging applications.

A poly(vinylidene fluoride) composite with added self-passivated microaluminum and nanoaluminum particles for enhanced thermal conductivity

A polymer composite was prepared by embedding fillers made of self-passivated aluminum particles in two kind of sizes, micrometer size and nanometer size with different volume proportions into polyvinylidene fluoride matrix. The thermal conductivity and dielectric properties of the composite were studied. The results showed that the thermal conductivity of composites was significantly increased to 3.258 W∕mK when the volume proportion of micrometer size Al particles to nanometer size Al particles is at 20:1, also the relative permittivity was about 75.8 at 1 MHz. The effective simulation model values were in good accordance with experimental results.

Excellent thermal conductivity and dielectric properties of polyimide composites filled with silica coated self-passivated aluminum fibers and nanoparticles

A polymer based composite was prepared by using modified aluminum fibers and aluminum nanoparticles as fillers in polyimide matrix that resulted in the high thermal conductivity and low relative permittivity. It was found that silica coated aluminum fibers with the multilayer coating structures can significantly reduce the relative permittivity (about 19.6 at 1 MHz) of the composite while keeping lower dielectric loss (0.024 at 1 MHz). The thermal conductivity of composites was significantly increased to 15.2 W/m K. This work shows a useful way to choose proper modifier fillers to improve the composite properties for electronic packaging composite materials.

Enhanced electric breakdown strength and high energy density of barium titanate filled polymer nanocomposites

We report improved electric breakdown strength, high energy density, and low dielectric loss of nanocomposites using surface modified BaTiO3 (BT) nanoparticles filling in poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymer matrix. Dielectric and electric breakdown properties of the nanocomposites have been investigated as a function of BT content. The electric breakdown strength of 285 MV/m has been achieved at the nanocomposite with 10 vol. % BT nanoparticles. The results indicate that functionalized and produced passivation layers on the surface of ceramic fillers can improve the homogeneity of the nanocomposites, promote space charge and interface effects, and significantly enhance electric breakdown strength of the nanocomposites.

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymer based nanocomposites with enhanced energy density by filling with polyacrylate elastomers and BaTiO3 nanoparticles

Polyacrylate elastomers were introduced into poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymer-based nanocomposites filled with BaTiO3 nanoparticles and the three-phase nanocomposite films were prepared. The energy discharged of the nanocomposite with 3 vol. % polyacrylate elastomers is 8.8 J/cm3, approximately 11% higher compared to that of the nanocomposite without adding polyacrylate elastomers. Large elastic deformation of the polyacrylate elastomers increases Maxwell–Wagner–Sillars interfacial polarization and space charge polarization of the nanocomposites with the electric field increasing, which results in increased maximum polarization and energy discharged of the nanocomposites.

Cyclic performance of viscoelastic dielectric elastomers with solid hydrogel electrodes

Hydrogels containing electrolyte can work as ionic conductors to actuate dielectric elastomer (DE) artificial muscles. Based on a popular design of a circular actuator, we study theoretically and experimentally the cyclic performance of acrylic DE actuators with solid hydrogel electrodes. The viscoelasticity of solid electrodes constrains the maximum strain that is attainable for one cycle of triangular voltage, and it also diminishes the accumulated increment of the maximum strain after many cycles of loadings.

Enhanced flexoelectric effect in a non-ferroelectric composite

Direct flexoelectric effect was investigated in a non-ferroelectric composite (Bi1.5Zn0.5)(Zn0.5Nb1.5)O7/Ag (BZN/Ag) where the structure symmetry permits no macro-piezoelectricity. The flexoelectric coefficient of the BZN/Ag composite approaches 0.17 μC/m at room temperature. This value is 3–4 orders of magnitude higher than those of common dielectrics. Our research confirms the existence of flexoelectric effect in insulated non-ferroelectric materials except for ferroelectric relaxors.