Examining dielectric constant improvement techniques for ferroelectric applications using PVDF-HFP/TFO composite films

Abstract

The current research focuses on the fabrication of polymer-ceramic composite materials by the solution casting process of multi-faceted titanium ferrite, TiFe2O4 (TFO). We experimented with different proportions of TFO composition, ranging from 5 to 15 wt%, in the polymer matrix of PVDF. Various characterization methods were employed to study the mechanical, spectroscopic, morphological, and dielectric properties affected by TFO load. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to identify both non-polar alpha- and polar beta-phases in the composites. Samples from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a spherulite-like morphology and uniform distribution of TFO particles. Our main goal was to increase the ferroelectric properties of the polyvinyl-HFP by increasing the percentage of TFO filler to increase the β-fraction. The enhanced attributes of our materials hint at potential applications in polymer-ceramic capacitor technology, a topic we delve into extensively.