Dielectric electrophoresis of cellulose nanocrystals/epoxy resin mixtures under alternating current field

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are often used to modify advanced electrical materials because of their excellent mechanical properties, high length-diameter ratio, and low density. Ac electric field electrophoresis-assisted assembly is a new preparation technology for nanocomposites in recent years. In this paper, the dielectric electrophoresis of CNCs in epoxy resin was studied under the AC field. Firstly, the dielectric electrophoresis model of CNC under an AC electric field was established, and the influence mechanism of electric field parameters on each physical process was obtained by numerical simulation. An optical observation platform was established to observe the dynamic physical process of dielectric electrophoresis of the CNC/epoxy resin hybrid system under the AC electric field. The results show that the experimental phenomenon is consistent with the theoretical model of dielectric electrophoresis, which preliminarily verifies the feasibility of the theory.