TY - JOUR
T1 - Preparation of zinc oxide/poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) composites via the cold sintering process
AU - Si, Mingming
AU - Hao, Jianyu
AU - Zhao, Enda
AU - Zhao, Xuetong
AU - Guo, Jing
AU - Wang, Hong
AU - Randall, Clive A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51902245 and 51877016) and Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province China (No. 2020JQ-044). We would like to thank Ren, Z.J. Chen, Y.N. Li, J. and Li, C. (the Instrument Analysis centre of Xi'an Jiaotong University) for the SEM and TEM measurements. We also thank Lu, L. (the School of Microelectronics and State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behaviour of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University) for the TEM sample preparation using FIB.
Funding Information:
The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51902245 and 51877016 ) and Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province Chin a (No. 2020JQ-044 ). We would like to thank Ren, Z.J., Chen, Y.N., Li, J., and Li, C. (the Instrument Analysis centre of Xi'an Jiaotong University) for the SEM and TEM measurements. We also thank Lu, L. (the School of Microelectronics and State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behaviour of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University) for the TEM sample preparation using FIB.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/8/15
Y1 - 2021/8/15
N2 - Appropriate preparation routes allow designing and improving the performances of ceramic-based functional composites. In this work, two powder-preparation methods enabled by the cold sintering process are utilized to fabricate unique ZnO-based varistor composites. The thermoplastic polymer, poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK), has been successfully integrated with ZnO to form dense ZnO-PEEK composites. With a dissolution method, PEEK particles can be homogeneously dissolved by the mixed solution of tetrahydrofuran and toluene and then form nanoscale thin grain boundaries after cold sintering process. In the direct mixing method, large PEEK particles are observed in the cold sintered samples. A Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis indicates that von-mises stresses concentrate at the grain boundaries of ZnO and at the interfaces of ZnO and PEEK, and these can be increased with the increase of PEEK particle sizes. The electrical properties have been improved with the addition of PEEK, and the cold sintered 95ZnO-5PEEK shows a high breakdown electric field (0.1 mA/mm2) of 3070 V/mm, and a nonlinear coefficient of 5. In addition, the conduction mechanism of the composites has been investigated using impedance spectroscopy. Overall, our work provides a strategy for the development of high-performance ceramic-polymer composites via cold sintering process.
AB - Appropriate preparation routes allow designing and improving the performances of ceramic-based functional composites. In this work, two powder-preparation methods enabled by the cold sintering process are utilized to fabricate unique ZnO-based varistor composites. The thermoplastic polymer, poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK), has been successfully integrated with ZnO to form dense ZnO-PEEK composites. With a dissolution method, PEEK particles can be homogeneously dissolved by the mixed solution of tetrahydrofuran and toluene and then form nanoscale thin grain boundaries after cold sintering process. In the direct mixing method, large PEEK particles are observed in the cold sintered samples. A Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis indicates that von-mises stresses concentrate at the grain boundaries of ZnO and at the interfaces of ZnO and PEEK, and these can be increased with the increase of PEEK particle sizes. The electrical properties have been improved with the addition of PEEK, and the cold sintered 95ZnO-5PEEK shows a high breakdown electric field (0.1 mA/mm2) of 3070 V/mm, and a nonlinear coefficient of 5. In addition, the conduction mechanism of the composites has been investigated using impedance spectroscopy. Overall, our work provides a strategy for the development of high-performance ceramic-polymer composites via cold sintering process.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117036
DO - 10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117036
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85107657095
VL - 215
JO - Acta Materialia
JF - Acta Materialia
SN - 1359-6454
M1 - 117036
ER -