Enhanced energy storage performance of nanocomposites filled with paraelectric ceramic nanoparticles by weakening the electric field distortion

Abstract

Polymer-based dielectric nanocomposites, which combines the high dielectric constant of ceramic materials and the high breakdown strength of polymer materials, has emerged as one of the most effective progress for the advanced dielectric energy storage materials. To improve energy storage performance, the core-shell structured SiO2@SrTiO3 paraelectric nanoparticles are used as fillers in constructing the polymer-based nanocomposites. Hence, this paper systematically investigates the impacts of filler content on energy storage performance and breakdown strength, and provides insight into the polarization behavior of different composites filled with paraelectric and ferroelectric nanoparticles (SiO2@BaTiO3), respectively. Combined finite element simulations, it is shown that the dielectric constant of the paraelectric ceramic is more similar to the polymer matrix, resulting in weakening the electric field distortion in the dielectric. Furthermore, due to the paraelectric characteristics of SrTiO3 nanoparticles and the diminution of interface polarization, the remnant polarization of the nanocomposites can be significantly reduced. The polymer-based dielectric nanocomposites exhibit more impressive energy storage, of 11.42 J/cm3 at 350 MV/m with 2.5 vol% paraelectric SiO2@SrTiO3 nanoparticles, which is superior to the composite filled with ferroelectric nanoparticles. Overall, this finding not only establishes a new direction for the structural design of fillers but also provides insight into an underlying mechanism to control interface polarization in the dielectric composites.