Novel 1–3 metal nanoparticle/polymer composites induced by hybrid external fields

We reported a novel 1–3 nanocomposite consisting of carbon-coated nickel (Ni@C) nanoparticles and epoxy resin matrix, in which nanoparticles were found one-dimensional-aligned by applying hybrid electric and magnetic fields during the curing of resin. The alignment was explained based on the dipole–dipole interaction between Ni@C nanoparticles under external fields. The dc resistivity, dielectric constant and dielectric loss of composites were tested as the function of the loading content and external fields. The results show the resistivity of aligned composites decreases by 3–4 orders of magnitude than that of random composites in the loading content range of 3–10 wt%, accompanied with an increase in dielectric constant and dielectric loss. Specially, it deserves to note that the synergistic effect of electric field and magnetic field was observed.