Graphene Oxide and Transition Model Oxide Reinforced Flexible Polymer Composites as Dielectric Constant Materials for Energy Storage Applications

Abstract

viii newlineABSTRACT newlineIn recent years, much research efforts have been devoted to the preparation of polymer composites that show high dielectric constant, low dielectric loss, and excellent flexibility because of their potential application in energy storage devices such as embedded capacitors. In order to enhance the energy storage property of embedded capacitors, some critical properties of dielectric materials such as high dielectric constant, low dielectric loss and good flexibility are eagerly desired. However, the traditional dielectric materials such as organic polymers and inorganic ceramics fail to meet the rigorous requirements of advanced capacitors. Since most of the polymers for dielectric applications have low dielectric constant (lt10), the developments of polymer composites with high dielectric constant have attracted ever-increasing attention and have gained remarkable progress. newlineGraphene oxide (GO) is a carbon-based single atom thick layered material. GO contains various oxygen bearing functional groups such as hydroxyl, carbonyl and epoxy groups on the surface along with the carboxylic groups at the edges. These functional groups make GO highly hydrophilic and therefore easy to disperse in water. The carboxylic and hydroxyl groups of GO gets ionized in water and stable GO colloid is formed due to electrostatic repulsion of negatively charged GO. Because of its diverse functionalities and stable aqueous suspension, GO has been frequently used as a filler for the preparation of polymer composites offering superior thermal, mechanical, electrical and gas barrier properties to the base polymer. However, the properties of GO-based polymer composites strongly depend on the degree of mixing between the two phases, orientation and interfacial interaction between them. The desired properties can be achieved depending on the method of preparation employed. Hence, knowing this rationale, GO was chosen as the primary filler in this work. newlineix newlineThe main objective of the present study is to combine the advantage of newlineGO,