Abstract:
In this paper, low temperature plasma is used to modify the surface of barium titanate (BaTiO
3) nanoparticles in order to enhance the interfacial compatibility between ferroelectric poly (vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF) and BaTiO
3 nanoparticles. The results demonstrate that oxygenic groups are successfully attached to the BaTiO
3 surface, and the quantity of the functional groups increases with the treatment voltage. Furthermore, the effect of modified BaTiO
3 nanoparticles on the morphology and crystal structure of the PVDF/BaTiO
3 membrane is investigated. The results reveal that the dispersion of BaTiO
3 nanoparticles in the PVDF matrix was greatly improved due to the modification of the BaTiO
3 nanoparticles by air plasma. It is worth noting that the formation of a β-phase in a PVDF/modified BaTiO
3 membrane is observably promoted, which results from the strong interaction between PVDF chains and oxygenic groups fixed on the BaTiO
3 surface and the better dispersion of BaTiO
3 nanoparticles in the PVDF matrix. Besides, the PVDF/modified BaTiO
3 membrane at the treatment voltage of 24 kV exhibits a lower water contact angle (≈68.4°)compared with the unmodified one (≈86.7°). Meanwhile, the dielectric constant of PVDF/BaTiO
3 nanocomposites increases with the increase of working voltage.