Enhancement of ferroelectric phase and dielectric properties of P(VDF-HFP) by NiCl2⋅6H2O nucleating agent

Abstract

This work focuses on an improvement of dielectric properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) or P(VDF-HFP) via mixing with different nickel(II) chloride hexahydrate (NiCl2⋅6H2O) contents (0–2 wt%). The nanocomposite films have been prepared by a conventional solution technique. The results reveal that the surface roughness increases with increasing salt content. The NiCl2⋅6H2O salt has no significant effect on the crystallinity of films. Additional incorporation of NiCl2⋅6H2O in the polymer leads to the growing conductivity. However, the considerable enhancement in dielectric constant with the relatively low dielectric loss tangent (0.1–0.3) can be found because of the formation of β-phase nucleation of NiCl2⋅6H2O in the P(VDF-HFP) matrix. The maximum value of calculated β-phase fraction of the nanocomposite is achieved 86% for salt content 0.5 wt%. Moreover, the largest dielectric constant (29.2 at 10 Hz) of the film doped 2 wt% NiCl2⋅6H2O is about 7 times greater than that of the pure P(VDF-HFP). The findings in this research suggest that the NiCl2⋅6H2O/P(VDF-HFP) nanocomposite is a candidate dielectric material for the next generation of energy conversion components.