Enhanced properties of silicone rubber dielectric composites by incorporation of novel TiO₂@Tl nanoparticles

It is necessary for silicone rubber dielectric composite to improve filler dispersion and enhance energy storage performance. In this study, a novel strategy is developed to overcome the limitations associated with the poor dispersion of polar fillers in non-polar silicone rubber. This study anchors titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles onto talc (Tl) nanoplatelets by dehydration reaction of hydroxyl groups on filler surface to synthesize a novel filler TiO₂@Tl. TiO₂@Tl combines the advantages of TiO₂ and Tl, and reduces the number of polar hydroxyl groups to weaken its polarity, which significantly enhances the compatibility with methyl vinyl silicone rubber (MVSR). Compared to directly adding two fillers TiO₂ and Tl into MVSR (TiO₂-Tl/MVSR), TiO₂@Tl/MVSR composite exhibits the more uniform filler dispersion and better overall performance at equivalent filler levels. 10 wt%TiO₂@Tl/MVSR composite exhibits the highest energy storage density of 95.55 kJ/m³, representing a 42.2 % increase compared to pure MVSR (67.15 kJ/m³) and a 13.2 % increase compared to 5 wt%TiO₂-5wt%Tl/MVSR (84.39 kJ/m³).