ABSTRACT
High-temperature dielectric polymers are in high demand for powering applications in extreme environments. Here, we have developed high-temperature homopolymer dielectrics with anisotropy by leveraging the hierarchical structure in semicrystalline polymers. The lamellae have been aligned parallel to the surface in the dielectric films. This structural arrangement resembles the horizontal alignment of nanosheet fillers in polymer nanocomposites and nanosheet-like lamellae in block copolymers, which has been proven to provide the optimal topological structure for electrical energy storage. The unique ordering of lamellae in our dielectric films endue a significantly increased breakdown strength and a reduced leakage current compared to amorphous films. This novel approach of enhancing the capacitive energy storage properties by controlled orientation of lamellae in homopolymer offers a new perspective for the design of high-temperature polymer dielectrics.
ABSTRACT
Polyetherimide (PEI) is the state-of-the-art commercial high-temperature polymer dielectric with excellent thermal and chemical stability and relatively high high-temperature capacitive energy storage properties. The rotation of the dipoles in the PEI chains brings the ß-relaxation which seriously increases the leakage current and decreases the charge-discharge efficiency. In this work, hydrogen bonds have been introduced to limit the dipole rotation of PEI by blending aramids [1,4-poly(ether fluoromethyl naphthalene amide), PNFA] into the PEI matrix. By introducing 10 wt % PNFA, the ß-relaxation of the blend has been significantly reduced which could be observed from the dielectric spectrum. To explore the mechanism of limited ß-relaxation, we analyze the hydrogen bonds in the blend films by infrared spectroscopy and found that the maximum content of hydrogen-bonded carbonyl formed between PNFA and PEI chains was 14.3% when the content of PNFA was 30 wt %. The content of hydrogen bonds formed between PNFA and PEI was positively correlated with the energy storage performance of the blends. The maximum discharged energy density with an efficiency above 90% of the blend film with 30 wt % PNFA reaches 4.1 J cm-3 at 150 °C, which is about 350% higher than that of pristine PEI. This work shows that composing hydrogen bonds by the blending method could be a viable strategy for enhancing the high-temperature energy storage performance of polymer dielectrics, which could be achieved by large-scale preparation and has feasible industrial production prospects.
ABSTRACT
Fluorinated poly(aryl ether)s (FPAEs) have attracted much attention due to their high thermal stability, excellent mechanical strength, and low dielectric constant. High-molecular-weight fluorinated poly(aryl ether) containing phenylethynyl (FPAE-PE) is successfully synthesized by nucleophilic substitution between 3-ethynylphenol and FPAE. The cross-linked fluorinated poly(aryl ether) (C-FPAE-PE) is prepared by thermal treatment of FPAE-PE at 300 °C. The thermal stability, dynamic thermomechanical property, and dielectric performance of C-FPAE-PE are systematically studied. C-FPAE-PE has excellent heat resistance with 5% weight loss temperature (Td5% ) at 490 °C in air and high thermomechanical properties with storage modulus retention of 50% at 215 °C. C-FPAE-PE displays low and steady dielectric constant of 2.4 and dielectric loss of 0.004 at 215 °C, exhibiting potential applications in the field of microelectronics, communication technology, and energy storage as high-temperature low dielectric materials.
