Interface, thermal, and Fourier transform—infrared spectroscopy investigation on polylactic acid/polyhydroxyalkanoate composites with silane‐treated aluminum particles and intercalated montmorillonite inclusions for semiconductor devices

Abstract

In this investigation, the dielectric properties of silane‐influenced aluminum conductive particles in polylactic acid, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and intercalated montmorillonite (MMT) composite were assessed for enhancing the dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and AC conductivities. Eight different sets of samples were fabricated with untreated and silane‐treated batches of biopolymer composites where the highest recorded dielectric constant was 3.98 at relaxation frequency of 10 kHz. One of the notable observations in the dielectric loss was with PLA/PHA/iMMT/Al (10 wt%) (silane‐treated) composites exhibited the lowest losses past relaxation frequencies. Furthermore, FT‐IR spectra were conducted on the samples to identify stretching and bonds created by silane and aluminum particles. The IR spectra confirm the formation of the SiOAl bond when treated with 3‐glycidyloxypropyl‐trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) solution and confirm the bond of AlOH hydroxyl bonds in the untreated composite samples. Other IR spectra information that was gathered would include carbonyl group stretching at 1750 cm−1 and absorption bands of hydroxy acids, between 3511 and 3640 cm−1, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy was performed on the sample to observe the formation of matrix cracks and exfoliation. A rough surface can be seen on PLA/PHA blends and the crystallization of these polymer blends regions can be vividly seen from the micrographs. Lastly, thermogravimetry analysis on the composite samples shows a predominant mass loss at 300°C before complete degradation and the notable composite with the lowest mass loss would be PLA/PHA/iMMT/Al (10 wt%) (ST) composite samples and with the inclusion of a constant 5 wt% organoclay MMT fillers imposed a high‐onset degradation temperature, which was remarkable for composites that were fabricated through standard hot‐press compression molding and cooling procedures.