Open AccessCore@Double-Shell Structured Nanocomposites: A Route to High Dielectric Constant and Low Loss Material
Author(s) -
Yanhui Huang,
Xingyi Huang,
Linda S. Schadler,
Jinliang He,
Pingkai Jiang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
acs applied materials and interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.535
H-Index - 228
eISSN - 1944-8252
pISSN - 1944-8244
DOI - 10.1021/acsami.6b06650
Subject(s) - materials science , nanocomposite , dielectric , atom transfer radical polymerization , composite material , dielectric loss , high κ dielectric , polymer , copolymer , polymer nanocomposite , methacrylate , barium titanate , nanoparticle , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , optoelectronics
This work reports the advances of utilizing a core@double-shell nanostructure to enhance the electrical energy storage capability and suppress the dielectric loss of polymer nanocomposites. Two types of core@double-shell barium titanate (BaTiO3) matrix-free nanocomposites were prepared using a surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) method to graft a poly(2-hydroxylethyle methacrylate)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) and sodium polyacrylate-block-poly(2-hydroxylethyle methacrylate) block copolymer from BaTiO3 nanoparticles. The inner shell polymer is chosen to have either high dielectric constant or high electrical conductivity to provide large polarization, while the encapsulating outer shell polymer is chosen to be more insulating as to maintain a large resistivity and low loss. Finite element modeling was conducted to investigate the dielectric properties of the fabricated nanocomposites and the relaxation behavior of the grafted polymer. It demonstrates that confinement of the more conductive (lossy) phase in this multishell nanostructure is the key to achieving a high dielectric constant and maintaining a low loss. This promising multishell strategy could be generalized to a variety of polymers to develop novel nanocomposites.