Study on low-frequency dielectric behavior of the carbon black/polymer nanocomposite

Recently, polymer-based dielectric materials have become one of the key materials to play an essential role in clean energy production, energy transformation, and energy storage applications. The end usage is the energy storage capability because it is a trade-off between dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss, and dissipation factor. Hence, it is of prime importance to study the dielectric properties of polymer materials by adding filler material at a low-frequency range. In the present study, polydimethylsiloxane/carbon black nanocomposites are prepared using the solution cast method. The dielectric properties, such as dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and dissipation factors due to the concentration of filler particles and low-frequency effect on the nanocomposites, are examined. Also, different empirical models are used to estimate the dielectric permittivity of polymer nanocomposites. The low-frequency range of 100 Hz to 1 MHz and the effect of varying volume fractions of carbon black show a significant change in the dielectric properties. It is found that the nanocomposites have a higher dielectric permittivity than the base polymer material. It is also observed that an increase in filler concentration increases the dielectric permittivity, which is confirmed with an empirical model.