Investigation on Characteristics of PVDF/ZnO Nanocomposite Films for High-k Capacitors

Abstract

Aims: To investigate the dielectric and electrical properties of nanocomposite films for their application as high-k capacitors Study Design: The ferroelectric polymer PVDF is doped with ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NP) to study the dielectric properties Place and Duration of Study: Material Science laboratories at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics at Alabama A&M University during the months from February 2013 to December 2013 Methodology: In this work, homogeneous ceramics-polymer nanocomposites consisting of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles as fillers and poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) polymer as matrix have been prepared using a solution casting process.  The temperature dependency of the dielectric permittivity of the nanocomposite films suggests that the introduced ZnO phase and interface areas contribute to the improvement of the dielectric response. Results: In comparison with pure PVDF film, dielectric permittivity of the nanocomposite with a small amount of filler volume fraction (8.6%) significantly improved by two times. Thus, it can be predictedwith higher concentrations of ZnO nanoparticles, composite films will have higher dielectric constants and warrants in applications as high-k capacitors for printed organic electronics. Conclusion: The nanocomposites thick films by embedding ZnO-NPs in PVDF matrix have been successfully fabricated. The nanocomposite displayed better dielectric properties than the pristine PVDF specimens did. As expected, the effective dielectric constant of PVDF increased when it was mixed with ZnO-NPs over the entire temperature range investigated. However, as the concentration of ZnO-NPs increased, the dielectric constant for the PVDF/ZnO-NPs nanocomposite doubled over that of pure PVDF. It can be concluded nanocomposites fabricated with higher concentration of ZnO-NPs have a potential to meet both present and future technological demands of high-k dielectrics and embedded capacitors/organic substrates.