Nanocomposite polymer dielectric film with very high dielectric strength

Our goal is to develop nanocomposite dielectric films of SiO2 nanoparticles homogeneously dispersed in polymer matrices to produce thin uniform dielectric films for metal-film capacitors. These films will be pinhole free and are targeted to have an extremely high dielectric breakdown voltage of up to 1000 MV/m. The result will be metal/polymer film capacitors with very high energy density, since the latter scales with the square of the voltage. In Phase I, EIC Laboratories will demonstrate the synthesis and fabrication processes for these composite membranes with highly dispersed nano-silica and evaluate their dielectric constants and breakdown strength (Phase I goal 700 MV/m). By the end of Phase II, we will develop prototypes of high energy density pulse-power capacitors employing the novel polymer nanocomposites that can be integrated into DOD future weapon systems.