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

Abstract

High-density polyethylene nanocomposites containing Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles were prepared by employing melt mixing process. The amorphous Fe 3 O 4 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 Fe 3 O 4 /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 Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles to high-density polyethylene matrix leads to decreasing degree of crystallinity and improvement of dielectric constant.