Dielectric Behavior Characterization of a Fibrous-ZnO/PVDF Nanocomposite Canan Dagdeviren, Melih Papila Sabancı University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Material Science and Engineering, Tuzla, Istanbul 34956, Turkey This study is focused on forming a fibrous-zinc oxide/ polyvinylidine fluoride (ZnO/PVDF) nanocomposite and characterizing its dielectric behavior. The nanocompo- site is prepared in two steps. First, a network of nano- scale diameter ZnO fibers is produced by sintering electrospun PVA/Zinc Acetate fibers. Second, the ZnO fibrous nonwoven mat is sandwiched between two PVDF thermoplastic polymer films by hot-press cast- ing. Scanning electron microscope images of the nanocomposite show that hot-press casting of the fibrous-ZnO network breaks the network up into short fibers. The in-plane distribution of the ZnO fillers (i.e., the short fibers) in the PVDF matrix appears to comply with that of the pristine ZnO fibers before hot-pressing, indicating that the fillers remain well-dispersed in the polymer matrix. To the authors’ knowledge, the work reported herein is the first demonstration of the use of electrospinning to secure the dispersion and distribu- tion of a network of inorganic fillers. Moreover, proc- essing a fibrous-ZnO/PVDF flexible composite as described in this report would facilitate material han- dling and enable dielectric property measurement, in contrast to that on a fibrous mat of pure ZnO. Because of the high surface area of the short ZnO fibers and their polycrystalline structure, interfacial polarization is pronounced in the nanocomposite film. The dielectric constant is enhanced significantly-up to a factor of 10 at low frequencies compared to the dielectric constant of constituent materials (both bulk ZnO and PVDF), and up to a factor of two compared to a bulk-ZnO/PVDF composite. POLYM. COMPOS., 31:1003–1010, 2010. ª 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers INTRODUCTION Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a technologically attractive mate- rial because of its potential for sensor applications [1, 2] enabled by catalysis [3], optical emission [4, 5], piezo- electric transduction and actuation [6–8]. The wide array of nanostructures producible broadens the appeal for their incorporation into functional composites. Individual ZnO nanobelts, for instance, were produced and measurements by piezoresponse force microscopy revealed promising results for the future of ZnO in nano-sensors and nano- actuators industry [9]. Specifically, the effective piezo- electric coefficient was reported to impart an increase, attributed to the nano-scale structure, by more than a fac- tor of two. For producing ZnO nanostructures, a variety of physi- cal or chemical techniques have been used from the vapor or the liquid phase [1, 10–12]. One promising alternative is the use of electrospinning combined with heat treatment to generate a nanofiber network film [5, 13–18]. This ver- satile technique has been broadly applied for solution processing of fibers from polymeric materials, as well as bioactive glass and ZnO, to name a few. For example, thermal processing electrospun polyacronitrile produced a high-purity carbon nanofiber web that was proposed as a potential anode for high-power lithium-ion batteries [13]. The control of morphology and fiber orientation in the electrospinning of the polymer precursor fiber has been addressed in numerous studies. Methods have been pro- posed and proven for controlling the fiber alignment: for instance the work by Dzenis [19]. However, thermal treat- ment parameters, such as calcination time, on the as-spun precursor fiber pattern and fiber diameter are still under investigation [18]. More recently, Kim et al. reported their results concerning the morphological variation because of several effects, and concluded that calcination conditions were the most significant factor [20]. The associated increase in surface area of nanoscale fillers offers advantageous electrical properties in poly- meric composites, when compared to their bulk form and to traditional micron-size fillers [9, 21–23]. Polymer com- posites of high dielectric constant, for instance, are desira- ble for a variety of high dielectric constant electronic devices, such as transducers, piezo-sensors, hydrophones [24] and in producing electromagnetic antennas. Mal- monge et al. [25]. produced flexible composites of poly(3- hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and lead zirconium titanate (PZT) for ferroelectric and dielectric applications. They Correspondence to: Melih Papila; e-mail: mpapila@sabanciuniv.edu Contract grant sponsor: The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey—TU ¨ B _ ITAK; contract grant number: Grant 106M364. DOI 10.1002/pc.20886 Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). V V C 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers POLYMERCOMPOSITES—-2010