Investigation of the capacitance and energy storage properties of PDMS-barium titanate composites using numerical method

In the present scenario, sensors and actuators are gaining significant attention due to their relevance in current technological advancements, particularly within the context of the Industry 4.0 revolution. The crucial materials used in these actuators and sensors possess a property known as dielectric permittivity. To enhance the dielectric permittivity of materials, there is a growing trend to improve this property by synthesizing composite materials using polymers as the base material and incorporating high dielectric constant ceramic materials as fillers. Predicting the effective dielectric properties of such composite materials is a challenging task. In this research, an effort was made to investigate the effective dielectric properties of a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based composite material with Barium Titanate (BT) as the filler material. A 2D model was developed to analyze the composite material, using standard analytical equations to determine the appropriate filler concentration. The filler concentration was varied from pure 5 to 20%, and the capacitance offered by the composite was evaluated. Additionally, the electrical behavior of the material was examined when a potential was applied to the composite. The results indicate that the effective dielectric permittivity increases with the filler concentration, thereby enhancing the capacitance of the composite material. Specifically, the capacitance values showed an improvement of 59.3% at 20% filler. This demonstrates the positive impact of incorporating Barium Titanate as a filler in the PDMS matrix on the dielectric properties of the composite material. Hence, the current study is useful for investigating similar properties in other polymer-ceramic-based composite dielectric materials.