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 (BaTiO3) was performed to obtain the fiber-reinforced polyarylene ether nitrile-based (PEN) composite laminates with improved mechanical properties. BaTiO3/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 BaTiO3 nanoparticles. The fracture surface of the BaTiO3/PEN films and BaTiO3/PEN/GF composite laminates investigated by SEM showed that the BaTiO3 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-BaTiO3 particles and fibers show enhanced synergistic effects. That is, with increasing the BaTiO3 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-BaTiO3 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% (T5%) of all the composite laminates with various content of BaTiO3 were over 490 °C both in N2 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.