Volume 43, Issue 4 2100700
Research Article

Interfacial Effect on Dielectric Properties of Self-Assembled Polythiourea-Based Copolymers for Ultrahigh Energy Storage

Yang Feng

Corresponding Author

Yang Feng

State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
Liuhao Jiang

Liuhao Jiang

State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049 China

Search for more papers by this author
Anqi Yang

Anqi Yang

State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049 China

Search for more papers by this author
Xia Liu

Xia Liu

State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049 China

Search for more papers by this author
Liuqing Yang

Liuqing Yang

State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049 China

Search for more papers by this author
Guanghao Lu

Guanghao Lu

State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049 China

Search for more papers by this author
Shengtao Li

Corresponding Author

Shengtao Li

State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710049 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 01 December 2021
Citations: 6

Abstract

Polymer dielectrics are highly desirable in capacitor applications due to their low cost, high stability, and reliability. However, there still remains a lack of feasible methods to prepare polymer dielectrics with high energy density and low dielectric loss, which severely hampers the development of compact and efficient power electronics. Here, an amphiphilic block copolymer, polythiourea-b-polydimethylsiloxane (PTU-b-PDMS), with an extraordinarily high energy density of 29.8 J cm−3 and a low loss is synthesized via polyaddition polymerization. This is highly relevant to the block molecule conformation in the interfacial region of the self-assembled PTU-b-PDMS. The block molecule in the interface adopts an extended conformation when the PTU forms nanodots, whereas the block molecule adopts a coiled conformation when the PTU forms nanostrands. The observation and characterization have proved that the coiled block molecule in the interfacial region can simultaneously induce extra strong charge trapping sites and dipolar polarization. It substantially improves the breakdown strength from 652 to 1166 MV m−1, while maintaining a high dielectric constant of 5 and a low loss of <0.01. This work offers unprecedented structural insights into the conformation-induced interfacial effect and enables rational design of self-assembled copolymers to boost their dielectric properties and energy density.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.