Name: application of a coupling agent to improve the dielectric properties of polymer-based nanocomposites
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This work was supported by the Taiyuan University of Science and Technology Scientific Research Initial Funding (20182028), the doctoral starting foundation of Shanxi Province (20192006), the Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province (201703D111003), the Science and Technology Major Project of Shanxi Province (MC2016-01), and Project U610256 supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China.

1. Surface modification of BT fillers
<ol>
	<li>Prepare 20 mL of KH550 solution (1 wt% KH550 in 95 wt% ethanol-water solvent) and ultrasonicate for 15 min.</li>
	<li>Weigh BT nanoparticles (i.e., the filler) and KH550, respectively, so that fillers can be coated with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 wt% of the coupling agent. Treat 1 g of BT nanoparticles in 1.057, 2.114, 3.171, 4.228, and 5.285 mL of KH550 solution by 30 min ultrasonication.</li>
	<li>Evaporate the water-ethanol solvent from the mixture at 80 &#176;C for 5 h and then at...

<ol>
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As discussed above, the method developed by this work could successfully improve the energy-storage performance of ceramic-polymer nanocomposites. To optimize the effect of such method, it is critical to control the amount of coupling agent used in ceramic-surface modification. For ceramic nanoparticles with a diameter of ~200 nm, it was experimentally determined that 2 wt% of KH550 could lead to a maximal energy density. For other composite systems, this conclusion may be used approximately when the fillers with the dia...

The dielectrics applied in electrical energy storage devices are mainly characterized using two important parameters: the dielectric constant (&#949;r) and the breakdown strength (Eb)1,2,3. In general, organic materials such as polypropylene (PP) exhibit a high Eb (~102 MV/m) and a low &#949;r (mostly &#60;5)4,5,6 while inorganic materials, especially ferroelectrics such as BaTiO3, exhibit a high &#949;r (103-104) and a low Eb (~100 MV/m)6,7,8. In some applications, flexibility and the ability to withstand high mechanical impacts are also important for fabricating dielectric capacitors4. Therefore, it is important to develop methods for preparing polymer-based dielectric composites, especially for the development of low-cost methods to create high-performance 0-3 nanocomposites with high &#949;r and Eb9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18. For this purpose, preparation methods based on ferroelectric polymer matrices such as the polar polymer PVDF and its correlated copolymers are widely accepted due to their higher &#949;r (~10)4,19,20. In these nanocomposites, particles with high er, especially ferroelectric ceramics, have been widely used as fillers6,20,21,22,23,24,25.
When developing methods for manufacturing ceramic-polymer composites, there is a general concern that dielectric properties can be significantly influenced by the distribution of fillers26. The homogeneity of dielectric composites is not only determined by the preparation methods, but also by the wettability between the matrix and fillers27. It has been proven by many studies that the non-uniformity of ceramic-polymer composites can be eliminated by physical processes such as spin-coating28,29 and hot-pressing19,26. However, neither of these two processes change the surface connection between fillers and matrices; therefore, the composites prepared by these methods are still limited in improving &#949;r and Eb19,27. Additionally, from a manufacturing point of view, inconvenient processes are undesirable for many applications because they can lead to much more complex fabrication processes28,29. In this regard, a simple and effective method is needed.
Currently, the most effective method to improve the compatibility of ceramic-polymer nanocomposites is based on the treatment of ceramic nanoparticles, which modifies the surface chemistry between fillers and matrices30,31. Recent studies have shown that coupling agents can be easily coated on ceramic nanoparticles and effectively modify the wettability between fillers and matrices without affecting the casting process32,33,34,35,36. For surface modification, it is widely accepted that for each composite system, there is a suitable amount of coupling agent, which corresponds to a maximal increase in energy storage density37; excess coupling agent in composites may result in a decline in the performance of products36,37,38. For dielectric composites using nano-sized ceramic fillers, it is speculated that the effectiveness of coupling agent mainly depends on the surface area of fillers. However, the critical amount to be used in each nano-sized system is yet to be determined. In short, further research is required to use coupling agents to develop simple processes for manufacturing ceramic-polymer nanocomposites.
In this work, BaTiO3 (BT), the most widely studied ferroelectric material with high dielectric constant, was used as fillers, and the P(VDF-CTFE) 91/9 mol% copolymer (VC91) was used as the polymer matrix for the preparation of ceramic-polymer composites. To modify the surface of the BT nanofillers, the commercially available 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) was purchased and used as a coupling agent. The critical amount of the nanocomposite system was determined through a series of experiment. An easy, low-cost, and widely applicable method is demonstrated to improve the energy density of nano-sized composite systems.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:827px;" width="826">
	<colgroup>
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
	</colgroup>
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550)</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">440140</td>
			<td style="width:223px;">Liquid, Assay: 99%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">95 wt.% ethanol-water</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">459836</td>
			<td>Liquid, Assay: 99.5%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="25">
			<td height="25" style="height:25px;width:259px;">BaTiO3 nanoparticles</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">US Research Nanomaterials</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">US3830</td>
			<td>In a diameter of about 200 nm</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">Ferroelectric tester</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">Radiant</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">Precision-LC100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">Glass substrates</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">Citoglas</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">16397</td>
			<td>75 x 25 mm</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">Gold coater</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">Pelco</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">SC-6</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">High voltage supplier</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">Trek</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">610D</td>
			<td>10 kV</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">Impedance analyzer</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">Keysight</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">4294A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">N, N dimethylformamide</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">GEN002007</td>
			<td>Liquid</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">P(VDF-CTFE) 91/9 mol.% copolymer</td>
			<td style="width:184px;"></td>
			<td style="width:161px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">JEOL</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">JSM-7000F</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:259px;">Vacuum oven</td>
			<td style="width:184px;">Heefei Kejing Materials Technology Co, Ltd</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">DZF-6020</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
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application of a coupling agent to improve the dielectric properties of polymer-based nanocomposites

In this work, an easy, low-cost, and widely applicable method was developed to improve the compatibility between the ceramic fillers and the polymer matrix by adding 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) as a coupling agent during the fabrication process of BaTiO3-P(VDF-CTFE) nanocomposites through solution casting. Results show that the use of KH550 can modify the surface of ceramic nanofillers; therefore, good wettability on the ceramic-polymer interface was achieved, and the enhanced energy storage performances were obtained by a suitable amount of the coupling agent. This method can be used to prepare flexible composites, which is highly desirable for the production of high-performance film capacitors. If an excessive amount of coupling agent is used in the process, the non-attached coupling agent can participate in complex reactions, which leads to a decrease in dielectric constant and an increase in dielectric loss.

The free-standing nanocomposite films with different contents of fillers were successfully fabricated as described in the protocol, and were labeled as xBT-VC91, where x is the volume percentage of BT in the composites. The effect of KH550 (coupling agent) on the morphology and microstructure of these BT-VC91 films was studied by SEM and shown in Figure 1. The SEM images of 30BT-VC91 nanocomposites with 1 and 5 wt% coupling agent are shown in Figure 1a and <stro...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Application of a Coupling Agent to Improve the Dielectric Properties of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites at JoVE.com

Application of a Coupling Agent to Improve the Dielectric Properties of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites

Here, we demonstrate a simple and low-cost solution-casting process to improve the compatibility between the filler and the matrix of polymer-based nanocomposites using surface modified BaTiO3 fillers, which can effectively enhance the energy density of the composites.

In this work, an easy, low-cost, and widely applicable method was developed to improve the compatibility between the ceramic fillers and the polymer ...

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