ASSESSMENT OF THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF POLYESTER/METAKAOLIN COMPOSITE

Abstract

One of the promising and exciting avenues for developing effective and efficient dielectric materials with high energy density and low cost is the recent approach of introducing inorganic nanoparticles into polymer matrices to form dielectric polymer composites, which finds application in the electrical energy storage, electronic and power device productions. Therefore, this study explored the potential of metakaolin (prepared from kaolin sourced from Kankara, Nigeria) in influencing the polyester composite dielectric properties, being a material found to be environmentally friendly and affordable. The dielectric constants and dissipation factors were used to assess the impact of introducing metakaolin in the polyester matrices. A precision LCR meter was used at room temperature, over a frequency range of 20 Hz to 1 MHz. The metakaolin used was found to be composed of 41.54 % Al2O3 and 55.28 % SiO2. The study's outcome indicates that the dielectric constant and dissipation factor increased with the metakaolin loading due to interfacial polarization but was found to decrease with increasing frequency. However, the composite with 10 %wt metakaolin was found to have shown the highest dielectric constant, based on this study, indicating an excellent electrical property, validating its use for devices like capacitors.

Keywords

• polyester
• metakaolin
• composite
• dielectric
• dissipation factor
• frequency