Preparation and properties of polyimide dielectric nanocomposites containing polyvinylpyrrolidone chemically functionalized barium titanate by in-situ synthesis compounding

This work employed polymer active agent polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) treated barium titanate (BT) nanoparticles (PVP@BT) as functional nanofillers to fill polyimide (PI) matrix to fabricate PI nanocomposite films. The microstructure, dielectric properties, and heat resistance of PI, PI/BT, and PI/PVP@BT dielectric nanocomposite films were investigated. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) indicated that PVP has been successfully coated on the surface of BT nanoparticles. Due to the enhanced aggregation of monomers on the PVP@BT nanoparticles, higher molecular weight and viscosity of PI/PVP@BT nanocomposite films were achieved. Compared with PI/BT nanocomposite films, the dispersion of PVP@BT nanoparticles in PI/PVP@BT nanocomposite films was better, as verified by field emission scanning electron microscope and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Filling a small amount of PVP@BT nanoparticles into the PI matrix improved the dielectric properties of the resultant nanocomposite films. The dielectric constant of the nanocomposite films with 10 wt% filler loading was up to 7.1 at 1000 Hz, which was 2.5 times higher than that of pure PI (2.9). PI nanocomposite film dielectric loss was generally lower than 0.015. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) tests verified that both pure PI and PI nanocomposite films showed excellent thermal stability. This work can be expected to provide a new strategy for designing and manufacturing PI dielectric nanocomposite films for energy storage applications.

Automated summary

This study employed PVP@BT nanoparticles as functional nanofillers to fill PI matrix and fabricated PI nanocomposite films. The results showed that the addition of PVP@BT nanoparticles enhanced the molecular weight, viscosity, and dispersion of the nanocomposite films, leading to improved dielectric properties. The nanocomposite films with 10 wt% PVP@BT nanoparticles exhibited a higher dielectric constant and lower dielectric loss compared to pure PI. Additionally, both pure PI and PI nanocomposite films showed excellent thermal stability.