Greatly enhanced dielectric charge storage capabilities of layered polymer composites incorporated with low loading fractions of ultrathin amorphous iron phosphate nanosheets†

Two-dimensional nanomaterials are promising fillers for dielectric nanocomposites because of their high specific surface areas which can induce strong interfacial polarization and result in improved dielectric permittivity. In this work, ultrathin amorphous FePO₄ nanosheets with a thickness of about 3.7 nm are successfully obtained using a one-step solvothermal method and are further dispersed into a P(VDF–HFP) matrix, forming FePO₄/P(VDF–HFP) nanocomposites. Obviously enhanced dielectric permittivities are achieved owing to the strong interfacial polarization at the huge interfaces between the FePO₄ nanosheets and the P(VDF–HFP) matrix. A greatly enhanced dielectric permittivity of 18.5@10 kHz, which is about 240% that of the P(VDF–HFP) matrix, is obtained in the composite with merely 2 wt% FePO₄ nanosheets. Furthermore, bilayer paraelectric/ferroelectric composites, in which pure polyetherimide acts as the paraelectric layer and the FePO₄/P(VDF–HFP) composite as the ferroelectric layer, are fabricated. It is found that, the synergistic effect between the two layers results in a substantially suppressed loss and elevated breakdown strengths, as well as obviously improved energy density and discharge efficiency in comparison with the single layer FePO₄/P(VDF–HFP) composites. Consequently, a high energy density of 7.58 J cm^?3 and a high discharge efficiency of 81.6% are concurrently achieved in the bilayer composite with merely 0.5 wt% FePO₄ nanosheets. The excellent dielectric energy storage performances make these composites promising candidates for advanced electrostatic capacitors.