Engineering the Dielectric Constants of Polymers: From Molecular to Mesoscopic Scales

Abstract

Polymers are essential components of modern‐day materials and are widely used in various fields. The dielectric constant, a key physical parameter, plays a fundamental role in the light‐, electricity‐, and magnetism‐related applications of polymers, such as dielectric and electrical insulation, battery and photovoltaic fabrication, sensing and electrical contact, and signal transmission and communication. Over the past few decades, numerous efforts have been devoted to engineering the intrinsic dielectric constant of polymers, particularly by tailoring the induced and orientational polarization modes and ferroelectric domain engineering. Investigations into these methods have guided the rational design and on‐demand preparation of polymers with desired dielectric constants. This review article exhaustively summarizes the dielectric constant engineering of polymers from molecular to mesoscopic scales, with emphasis on application‐driven design and on‐demand polymer synthesis rooted in polymer chemistry principles. Additionally, it explores the key polymer applications that can benefit from dielectric constant regulation and outlines the future prospects of this field.

Gradient structured all-organic dielectrics by electrospinning for enhanced energy storage performance

“…While electronic and ion polarization are present in all dielectric materials, their contribution to electric displacement is minimal. 43,44 Dipolar polarization is linked to the content of spontaneously polarized b-PVDF in this system, with a greater proportion of b-PVDF leading to more pronounced dipole alignment under the external electric eld. In the prepared allorganic composites with diverse topological structures, the b-PVDF contents are relatively uniform, rendering the contribution of dipolar polarization negligible.…”

Multilaminate Energy Storage Films from Entropy‐Driven Self‐Assembled Supramolecular Nanocomposites

“…The 𝜂 values across the entire investigated range of electric fields are comparable to BOPP, known as the dielectric polymer with the lowest energy loss due to its non-polar structure. [1,5] Moreover, the ordered multilaminate nanocomposite films also exhibit greater energy storage performance, in terms of both U d and 𝜂, compared to the disordered nanocomposites with the same NP loadings (Figure S21, Supporting Information). The performance differences correlate well with their relative dielectric properties (e.g., Weibull E b and J) as discussed above.…”

“…Polymer-based dielectric films are integral to electrostatic energy storage capacitors, offering a suite of benefits such as light weight, cost-effectiveness, ease of processing, mechanical flexibility, excellent electric field tolerance, and robust charge-discharge cyclability. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] These attributes render polymer film capacitors indispensable in power electronic systems, characterized by their unmatched power densities and rapid microsecond-scale charge-discharge rates. [1,[10][11][12][13] However, despite their impressive power density, the energy density of polymer film capacitors struggles to meet the growing demands of high-power applications, such as electric vehicles, aviation, and spacecraft.…”

Achieving high overall energy storage performance of KNN-based transparent ceramics by ingenious multiscale designing

“…Despite their faster charge–discharge speed over the other three most commonly used battery systems, which are Li-ion batteries, fuel cells, and super-capacitors, energy storage capacitors have been suffering from the drawback of short battery life for quite a long time, 1–6 and their development was thus limited. Such a problem is mainly due to the paradox of obtaining large polarization and high electric breakdown strength simultaneously, which have already been reported in many previous studies.…”