A Modeling Study of the Dielectric Property of Polymeric Nanocomposites Based on the Developed Rayleigh Model

A developed Rayleigh model that considers the effect of interphase properties is suggested to calculate the dielectric constant of polymeric nanocomposites. In this study, the nanofiller and its surrounding interphase are treated as an ideal particle, named as the equivalent nanoparticle. It has a core–shell configuration. Modeling results based on the developed Rayleigh model are confirmed experimentally, showing that the predicted dielectric constant is in accordance with experimentally determined values, which indicates the high accuracy of the developed model. In addition, the effects of nanofiller parameters and interphase properties along with base resin properties on the dielectric properties of polymeric nanocomposites are further explored. It can be found that the interphase region with a higher thickness and a higher dielectric constant will result in a polymeric nanocomposite with better dielectric constant. Simultaneously, nanofillers with a small diameter and a high volume fraction will increase the dielectric constant of nanocomposites. Furthermore, high dielectric constant polymer matrices and nanoparticles exhibit a positive effect on the dielectric constant of nanocomposites, while the dielectric constant of polymer matrices plays a leading role in the dielectric constant of nanocomposites. The developed Rayleigh model presents an efficient mathematical tool for predicting the polymeric nanocomposite’s dielectric constant with different kinds of polymer matrix and nanofillers.