Characterization, Dielectric Analysis and Thermal Properties of Novel Flexible Polymer Composite Films

In this work, mixtures of polypyrrole (PPy) and iron oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ) are synthesized using oxidative chemical polymerization process to create a novel flexible PET/(PPy-Fe 2 O 3 ) composite films. The films were characterized by different methods as FTIR, SEM, XRD and TGA to prove the efficient manufacturing of the composite. The dielectric performance measurements were done at frequency of 20 Hz to 6 MHz for the polymer PET and the composite (PPy-Fe 2 O 3 )/PET with varying concentrations of Fe 2 O 3 . Moreover, to reveal the characteristics of the fabricated composite, the contact angle, the work of adhesion, surface energy of the composite PET/(PPy-Fe 2 O 3 ) films were considerably determined. The SEM results support the deposition of PPy-Fe 2 O 3 composite on the PET surface. The water contact angle drops from 78.32° for PET to 40.11° for PET/6%(PPy-Fe 2 O 3 ), while the dispersive free energy raised from 23.9 mJ m −2 to 43.7 mJ m −2 and the polar free energy rises from 8.9 mJ m −2 to 22.3 mJ m −2 . The concentration of Fe 2 O 3 increased the surface features of the samples, according to the obtained results. At frequency of 100 Hz, the dielectric constant enhanced from 18 for PET to 923 for the PET/6%(PPy-Fe 2 O 3 ), and the dielectric loss improved from 24 to 9231, while the energy density improved fromm 7.9 × 10 −5 J/m 3 for PET to 408 × 10 −5 J m −3 . The TGA results show marginal modifications in thermal stability after deposition the PPy/Fe 2 O 3 on the PET film. The obtained data showed the dielectric characteristics of the PET/(PPy-Fe 2 O 3 ) were improved respect to polymer PET, to can be applied the fabricated composite in storage devices and capacitors.