Dielectric and mechanical properties of zirconium silicate and polyurethane dielectric elastomer composite

Polyurethane (PU) is an interesting polymer that possesses excellent high dielectric permittivity, low dielectric loss, and great tlexibility. which makes it promising to be applied as a dielectric elastomer generator (DEG). However, enhancement in terms of dielectric permittivity is still necessary to ensure PU practicability in the industry. In this paper, a high permittivity ceramic nanofiller. zirconium silicate (ZrSi04). was incorporated with a PU matrix to fabricate a composite elastomer. ZrSiC)4 nanofillers and PU matrix were synthesized through the melt-mixing method at various weight percentages (10 wt.%. 20 wt.%. 30 wt.%. 40 vvt.%. and 50 wt,%). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to investigate the structural characteristic of the composite. The dielectric and mechanical characterization of the composites was also been studied. The results from FTIR indicate that the ZrSi04 nanofillers were successfully synthesized within the PU matrix. Other than that, at 50 wt.% of ZrSi04, the PU/
ZrSi04 recorded dielectric permittivity up to 12.07 (33.5% higher than pristine PU) while maintaining low dielectric loss and low conductivity. The ultimate tensile stress and elongation at the break of the PU composites were affected by the increment of ZrSi04 contents but they still maintained excellent mechanical attributes. These PU/ZrSi04 composites have the potential to be used as dielectric elastomers in the DEG application.