Characterization of barium titanate reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene rubber composites for flexible electronic applications: influences of barium titanate content

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop high dielectric constant flexible polymers with a highly efficient and cost-effective approach using acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) as the polymer matrix and barium titanate (BT) as the high dielectric constant filler. The BT powder was synthesized with a solid-state reaction and was characterized using a particle size analyzer, XRD, SEM and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. NBR/BT composites were fabricated using an internal mixer with various BT loadings up to 160 phr. The influence of BT loading on the cure characteristics and mechanical, dynamic mechanical, thermal, dielectric and morphological properties was determined. The incorporation of BT in the NBR matrix shortened scorch time and increased delta torque. The mechanical properties, thermal stability and dielectric constant were greatly improved and increased with BT loading. The results suggest that the reinforcement effect was achieved due to strong hydrogen bonding or polar–polar interactions between NBR matrix and BT filler. This is further corroborated by the good dispersion of BT filler in the NBR matrix observed with SEM imaging. These findings can be applied to produce high-performance dielectric elastomers.