Investigation of thermal and dielectric properties of Fe3O4/high-density polyethylene nanocomposites

Abstract

High-density polyethylene nanocomposites containing Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared by employing melt mixing process. The amorphous Fe3O4 nanoparticles with average size about 50 nm were prepared by the conventional coprecipitation method from iron (ΙΙ and ΙΙΙ). Thermal and dielectric properties of high-density polyethylene and its nanocomposites were investigated via differential scanning calorimetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The crystalline structure of high-density polyethylene and Fe3O4/high-density polyethylene nanocomposite were studied by wide-angle X-ray diffraction, which confirmed orthorhombic crystalline structure. The results of thermal and dielectric analysis indicated that the addition of Fe3O4 nanoparticles to high-density polyethylene matrix leads to decreasing degree of crystallinity and improvement of dielectric constant.