Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Plasma-Treated BaTiO3 Nanocomposites with Enhanced Electroactive Phase

Functional C=O and C-O groups are successfully fixated onto the surface of a high dielectric constant material barium titanate (BaTiO3) via non-thermal plasma. The strong dipole interaction exists between these functional groups and CH2 or CF2 groups of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), resulting in the enhancement of the electroactive γ-phase of PVDF/BaTiO3 nanocomposites on one hand; on the other hand the dispersion of BaTiO3 is enhanced in the PVDF matrix, where the smaller spherulite size and better hydrophilic property are observed in the PVDF/plasmatreated BaTiO3 nanocomposite, comparing with the untreated ones. Therefore, the PVDF/plasma-treated BaTiO3 nanoparticles exhibited higher dielectric constant and lower dielectric loss than the PVDF/BaTiO3 nanoparticles.