Impedance spectroscopy studies of surface engineered TiO2 nanoparticles using slurry technique

Dielectric analysis of nanometre range size ceramic particles like TiO2 is very important in the understanding of the performance and design of their polymer nanocomposites for energy storage and other applications. In recent times, impedance spectroscopy is shown to be a very powerful tool to investigate the dielectric characteristics of not only sintered and/or pelleted ceramic materials but also particulates/powders (both micron-sized and nano-sized) using the slurry technique. In the present work, impedance spectroscopy employing slurry methodology was extended to study the influence of various chemical groups on the nanoTiO2 surface on the electrical resistivity and the dielectric permittivity of nanoparticles. In this regard, different organophosphate ligands with linear, aromatic and extended aromatic nature of organic groups were employed to remediate the surface effects of nanoTiO2. It was observed that the type of chemical nature of surface engineered nanoparticles’ surface played significant role in controlling the surface electrical resistivity of nanoparticles. Surface passivated nanoTiO2 yielded dielectric permittivity of about 70–80, respectively.