Secondary dispersion of BaTiO3 for the enhanced mechanical properties of the Poly (arylene ether nitrile)-based composite laminates

Secondary dispersion of the nano barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ) was performed to obtain the fiber-reinforced polyarylene ether nitrile-based (PEN) composite laminates with improved mechanical properties . BaTiO 3 /PEN composite films were prepared via casting with ultrasonic dispersion, and then the glass fiber-reinforced (GF) composite laminates were obtained by the hot-melting method, which were favored to realize the secondary dispersion of the BaTiO 3 nanoparticles . The fracture surface of the BaTiO 3 /PEN films and BaTiO 3 /PEN/GF composite laminates investigated by SEM showed that the BaTiO 3 dispersed homogenously both in the PEN matrix and the gaps between the fibers. The mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of the laminates were characterized and results indicated that the nano-BaTiO 3 particles and fibers show enhanced synergistic effects. That is, with increasing the BaTiO 3 content, the flexural strength and modulus of the composite laminates increased correspondingly, as well as the glass transition temperatures . Additionally, with the introduction of nano-BaTiO 3 particles, the dielectric constants (>5.5 at 1 kHz) of the composite laminates were improved obviously and the low dielectric loss (˂0.02 at 1 kHz) was maintained. The temperatures at weight loss 5% ( T 5% ) of all the composite laminates with various content of BaTiO 3 were over 490 °C both in N 2 and air atomosphere. Good dielectric properties and outstanding thermo-mechanical properties would enable the PEN-based fiber-reinforced composite laminates as the candidates in the material fields of structure-functional integrations.