Strawberry-like Core-Shell Ag@Polydopamine@BaTiO3 Hybrid Nanoparticles for High-k Polymer Nanocomposites with High Energy Density and Low Dielectric Loss

Flexible nanocomposites comprising of polymer and high-dielectric-constant (high-k) ceramic nanoparticles are becoming increasingly attractive for dielectric and energy storage applications in modern electronic and electric industry. However, a huge challenge still remains. Namely, the increase of dielectric constant usually at the cost of significant decrease of breakdown strength of the nanocomposites because of the electric field distortion and concentration induced by the high-k filler. To address this long-standing problem, by using nano-Ag decorated core-shell polydopamine (PDA) coated BaTiO3 (BT) hybrid nanoparticles, a new strategy is developed to prepare high-k polymer nanocomposites with high breakdown strength. The straw-berry-like BT-PDA-Ag based ferroelectric polymer [i.e., poly(vinylideneflyoride-co-hexafluroro propylene), P(VDF-HFP)] nanocomposites exhibit greatly enhanced energy density and significantly suppressed dielectric loss as well as leakage current density in comparison with the nanocomposites with the core-shell structured BT-PDA. Coulomb-blockade effect of super-small nano-Ag is used to explain the observed performance enhancement of the nanocomposites. The simplicity and scalability of the described approach provide a promising route to polymer nanocomposites for dielectric and energy storage applications.