Dielectric properties of epoxy silica and boron nitride nanocomposites and moisture/temperature influences

• Published in: IET Nanodielectrics Vol. 1; no. 1; pp. 48 - 59
• Main Authors: Qiang, Dayuan, Wang, Yan, Chen, George, Andritsch, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing The Institution of Engineering and Technology 01.04.2018; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: BN nanocomposites; Bonding strength; boron compounds; Boron nitride; boron nitride nanocomposites; Composite materials; Dielectric properties; Dielectric relaxation; dielectric spectroscopy; Dielectric strength; epoxy nanocomposites; epoxy resin; Epoxy resins; epoxy silica; filled polymers; frequency 0.1 Hz to 100000.0 Hz; frequency 0.1 Hz to 100000.0 Hz; hydrophobicity; Influence; moisture; Monte Carlo methods; Monte-Carlo simulation; nanoBN; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; nanotechnology; permittivity; Polymers; pure epoxy; Research Article; resins; silicon compounds; Silicon dioxide; SiO; SiO2; Spectrum analysis; Spherical shells; Surface treatment; Temperature; Thickness; Water; Water absorption; water uptake; surface treatment; resins; dielectric spectroscopy; water absorption; boron nitride nanocomposites; BN; nanocomposites; Monte Carlo methods; nanotechnology; water uptake; SiO2; pure epoxy; permittivity; boron compounds; BN nanocomposites; dielectric properties; epoxy nanocomposites; moisture; Monte-Carlo simulation; epoxy silica; hydrophobicity; epoxy resin; frequency 0.1 Hz to 100000.0 Hz; silicon compounds; filled polymers; nanoBN
• ISSN: 2514-3255; 2514-3255
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-nde.2017.0002

The epoxy resin was filled with nano-BN, surface treated, and untreated nano-SiO2. Measurements of dielectric spectroscopy cover the range of frequency from 10−2 to 105 Hz and will relate to the hydration of samples. It was observed from the results that permittivity of pure epoxy was strongly affected by the water absorptions and a bit of temperature. Then it will allow us to extract the influence of water absorption on dielectric properties and proposed a relatively reliable method by using Monte-Carlo simulation to estimate the average thickness of water shell or related relaxation peak of epoxy nanocomposites with spherical particles. At the end, the authors experimentally demonstrated the existence of two layer structure of water shell and concluded that surface treatment is able to reduce the water uptake, however, no obvious impact on modifying its effects on dielectric properties due to the limitation of thickness of tightly bonded layer. The ‘hydrophobic’ performance of BN nanocomposites is much better than silica ones, especially the no formation of water shell around the particles, and may be more suitable for application under environment with humidity.