Effect of Curing Conditions and BaTiO3 Nanoparticle Addition on Dielectric Constant of PDMS for EAP Applications

Abstract

To a great extent, dielectric properties of electroactive polymers affect actuator efficiency. In this study, we examined the effect of BaTiO3 nanoparticles addition on dielectric constant of a PDMS nanocomposite. We optimized the curing conditions of PDMS for the highest dielectric constant. After that, we added several amounts of BaTiO3 nanoparticles (0.5-30 wt%) to PDMS. Dielectric constants of the samples were calculated by measuring capacitance values by an LCR meter at 10 kHz. The highest dielectric constant (5.09x10(-25)) belonged to the PDMS which was cured at 100 degrees C for 35 min. Structural properties of PDMS and BaTiO3 nanoparticles were determined by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.