Interfacial 2D Montmorillonite Nanocoatings Enable Sandwiched Polymer Nanocomposites to Exhibit Ultrahigh Capacitive Energy Storage Performance at Elevated Temperatures

Abstract

Polymer dielectrics are essential for advanced electrical and electronic power systems due to their ultrafast charge–discharge rate. However, a long‐standing challenge is to maintain their dielectric performance at high temperatures. Here, a layered barium titanate/polyamideimide nanocomposite reinforced with rationally designed interfaces is reported for high‐temperature high‐energy‐density dielectrics. Nanocoatings composed of 2D montmorillonite nanosheets with anisotropic conductivities are interposed at two kinds of macroscopic interfaces: 1) the interfaces between adjacent layers in the nanocomposites (inside) and 2) the interfaces between the surface of the nanocomposite and the electrode (outside). By revealing the charge transport behavior with Kelvin probe force microscope, surface potential decay, and finite element simulation, it is demonstrated that the outside nanocoatings are observed to diminish charge injection from the electrode, while the inside nanocoatings can suppress the kinetic energy of hot carriers by redirecting their transport. In this interface‐reinforced nanocomposite, an ultrahigh energy density of 2.48 J cm−3, as well as a remarkable charge–discharge efficiency >80%, is achieved at 200 °C, six times higher than that of the nanocomposite without interfacial nanocoatings. This research unveils a novel approach for the structural design of polymer nanocomposites based on engineered interfaces to achieve high‐efficient and high‐temperature capacitive energy storage.

Study of Non-Periodical Mechanical Metamaterials: Design and Application

“…Thus, it should only consider the plasma with very low discharge current during the fabrication process. Besides, the application of dielectric materials [11,12,27,28] as a key factor in the active control metamaterials and can also be good for energy harvesting from mechanical vibration. For example, the dielectric elastomer has been used to make giant deformation [29], which provides an effective way to manipulate the unitcell re-configuration.…”

“…Another important feature of this mechanical metamaterials is its fabrication. There are many popular methods can be employed to fabricate the metamaterials, like plasma etching, laser printing and nanofabrication [11][12][13]. During the fabrication process, it is possible to enable active control of metamaterials by using dielectric materials and embedding electric components.…”

Rapid and Safe Arc Quench by Using External Magnetic Coil in Power Interruption

“…For a typical circuit breaker as illustrated in Figure 1, the main parts are copper contacts (one is fixed contact and another one is mobile contact), a stack of steel plates and some insulating materials like (nano-coated) dielectric polymer which can absorb substantial heat and generate great amount of polymer vapor. If the housing of the LVCB is made up of polymers [27][28][29] that are easily gasified in high temperature environment, large volume of polymer vapor generation will tremendously increase the local pressure and alter the flow field which, consequently, accelerates the arc motion and expedite arc extinction. As a supplementary to this technique, we will introduce using external magnetic coil to ensure a rapid and safe arc quench.…”

Scalable Polyimide‐Organosilicate Hybrid Films for High‐Temperature Capacitive Energy Storage

“…[ 5,18–25 ] For the multilayer‐structured dielectric films, the interface between adjacent layers can capture space charges and block charge transport. [ 10,26–30 ] In addition, the grafting modification and crosslinking chemistry have also been proven to form effective molecular trapping centers in dielectric polymers, which can impede electrical conduction and thus achieve improved elevated‐temperature capacitive energy densities. [ 31–33 ]…”