Dilute Nanocomposites – A New Class of Polymer Nanocomposites That Exploit Nanointerface Effects in Enhancing Dielectric Performance

Qiming Zhang, Pennsylvania State University

Abstract:

Dielectric polymers have been used widely in many electrical and electronic applications. Dielectric constant, dielectric loss, dielectric breakdown strength and operating temperature are key performance parameters of dielectrics for these applications. Polymer nanocomposites in which high volume loading of inorganic nanofillers in polymers have been investigated for many decades with the aim of enhancing/improving dielectric constant and breakdown strength.

This talk will present a new class of polymer nanocomposites: dilute nanocomposites, in which very low volume loading of nanofillers generate interfacial regions in polymers that greatly enhance the dielectric performance of many widely used high temperature polymers.

Bio:

Qiming Zhang is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Material Science Engineering at Penn State University and an IEEE fellow. He received his BS in Electronic Physics from Nanjing University, and the Ph D in Solid State Physics from Penn State University.

As a leading expert in electroactive polymers in the world, he has over 260 publications and 9 patents in this field. He also has co-edited 4 books and contributed many chapters in electroactive polymers and related technologies. His group discovered and developed electrostrictive polymers with high strain responses, developed microfluidic devices and microactuators based on EAPs, proposed and demonstrated ultrahigh dielectric constant hybrid nanometamaterials based on delocalized electron system, and more recently, the dielectric polymers with high electric energy density for capacitor applications. His research has been funded by NIH, DOE, DOD, NSF, and many companies.

He received Lee Hsun Lecture Award on Materials Science from the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Science in 2020, the Zijing Distinguished Lecture, Tsinghua University, Graduate School at Shenzhen, in 2018 and the Humboldt Research Award, Humboldt Foundation, in 2018.