Significantly elevated dielectric permittivity of Si-based semiconductor/polymer 2-2 composites induced by high polarity polymers

To disclose the essential influence of polymer polarity on dielectric properties of polymer composites filled with semiconductive fillers, a series of Si-based semiconductor/polymer 2-2 composites in a series model was fabricated. The dielectric permittivity of composites is highly dependant on the polarity of polymer layers as well as the electron mobility in Si-based semiconductive sheets. The huge dielectric permittivity achieved in Si-based semiconductive sheets after being coated with high polarity polymer layers is inferred to originate from the strong induction of high polarity polymers. The increased mobility of the electrons in Si-based semiconductive sheets coated by high polarity polymer layers should be responsible for the significantly enhanced dielectric properties of composites. This could be facilely achieved by either increasing the polarity of polymer layers or reducing the percolative electric field of Si-based semiconductive sheets. The most promising 2-2 dielectric composite was found to be made of α-SiC with strong electron mobility and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with high polarity, and its highest permittivity was obtained as 372 at 100 Hz although the permittivity of α-SiC and PVA is 3-5 and 15, respectively. This work may help in the fabrication of high dielectric constant (high-k) composites by tailoring the induction effect of high polarity polymers to semiconductors.