Enhanced dielectric performance of TPU composites filled with Graphene@poly(dopamine)-Ag core-shell nanoplatelets as fillers

Abstract A new type of graphene@poly(dopamine)-Ag (Gns@PDA-Ag) core-shell nanoplatelets was designed to improve the dielectric properties of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites. The microstructure, dielectric performances and the effects of Ag nanoparticles’ content on the dielectric properties of composites were investigated. Results showed that the addition of Gns@PDA-Ag nanoplatelets could effectively improve the dielectric constant of the composite. When tested at low frequency (below 100 Hz), the highest dielectric constant of the TPU/Gns@PDA-0.78Ag (3 wt%) composite was 118.82, which was 14 times higher than that of pure TPU (8.39). This increase in dielectric constant should be attributed to the strong polarization effect of conductive graphene nanoflakes (Gns) and Ag nanoparticles to TPU molecules. The PDA shell could prevent direct contact between Gns and Ag nanoparticles, limit the formation of conductive pathways, which kept the dielectric loss of the composites at a low level and maintained the breakdown strength in a stable state. Compared with pure TPU (0.29), the minimum dielectric loss of composites was only 0.36. Moreover, after Gns@PDA-Ag nanoplatelets with higher Ag content were doped into TPU, the composite showed a higher dielectric constant, and due to the existence of the Coulomb blocking effect, the dielectric loss did not increase significantly. The scalability and simplicity of the described method will provide a promising route to polymer composites for highspeed integrated circuits and energy storage applications.