To celebrate the growth and development of the RSC Applied Polymers community and to highlight the remarkable authors who continue to contribute their high quality work to the journal we would like to share the opinions and insights of these authors through this introductory blog post. Once dubbed #RSCAppliedfirst50, our blog posts aim to give a voice to the authors behind the research and hope that their insights might shed light upon growing challenges and progress in polymer science and its applications.
In this edition, we hear from Bing Zhong, Yu Wang, Yin Zhang and Wei You in a short introduction to their study entitled ‘Investigation of the influence of substituents on the dielectric properties of polyethylene derivatives.’
An Introduction to ‘Investigation of the influence of substituents on the dielectric properties of polyethylene derivatives.’
Dielectric materials are characterized by their ability to polarize under an applied electric field, a property quantified by the dielectric constant. Polymer dielectrics, valued for their low density, flexibility, and ease of processing, are prevalent in electronics and energy storage. The dielectric constant dictates their utility; for instance, PVDF and its copolymers, with high dielectric constants, serve as capacitors and piezoelectric materials, while BOPP films, with low constants, are used in cable and component packaging.
Polymer dielectrics exhibit multi-scale polarization, influenced by factors from atomic electron clouds to phase interfaces. Their properties are determined by chemical structure, microstructure, and external fields, offering a wide range of tunable dielectric characteristics. However, construction of the structure-property relation is challenging due to the complex interplays among these factors.
You’s research group has employed a novel post-functionalization strategy to study the impact of functional groups on dielectric properties. By introducing various functional groups with precise structures and quantities, they have demonstrated the ability to regulate the dielectric constants of the resulting polymers effectively.
Starting with commercial poly(ethylene vinyl acetate) (EVA), the authors introduced various functional groups, including halogens, phenyl ethers, azides, macrocyclic structures, and norbornene groups, using a approach based on Mitsunobu reactions. These groups not only possess different dipole moments but also modulate the polymer chain’s net dipole moment. The incorporation of halogen groups and macrocyclic structures significantly enhances the energy density and dielectric breakdown strength of the resulting polymers, making them ideal for use in capacitors.
Fig. 1 General route for polyethylene derivative preparation via the Mitsunobu reaction and chemical structures of the ten study samples.
Fig. 2 Dielectric comparison of prepared polyethylene derivatives.
The authors also discovered that blending with linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) can reduce dielectric loss while enhancing the dielectric constant at low frequencies. This enhancement is due to the compatibility between LLDPE and polyethylene derivatives, which facilitates the orderly arrangement of dipole moments, thereby improving polarizability.
Fig. 3 SEM images of (a) PE-Br/LLDPE, (b) PE-I/LLDPE, (c) and PE-OPh/LLDPE blends.
More importantly, the new polymer blends exhibit superior mechanical properties and thermal stability, with a breakdown strength 1.4 times higher than pure LLDPE and an elongation at break exceeding 1000%. These characteristics ensure the reliability of polyethylene-based dielectric materials in high-temperature and high-electric field environments.
Fig. 4 Mechanical property comparison of PE-Br, PE-I, PE-OPh, and their blends.
The study explores the influence of functional group structure on polymer dielectric properties and highlights the Mitsunobu-based post-polymerization functionalization as a platform for evaluating substituent effects on synthetic polymers. This approach is expected to shed new light on enhancing polymer dielectric properties.
Bing Zhong
Ms. Bing Zhong obtained her Bachelor degree from Xiangtan University in 2023 and is currently pursuing her PhD degree at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the guidance of Researcher Wei You. As a second-year graduate student, her research endeavors are centered on the in-depth investigation of the dielectric characteristics of materials and the innovative development of gas separation membranes.
Yu Wang
Dr. Yu Wang got his Bachelor degree from National Cheng Kung University in 2011 and his PhD degree in chemical engineering from National Cheng Kung University in 2018. Then he started as a postdoctoral associate at College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University. Since April 2022, Dr. Wang has been an Assistant Researcher at the Key Laboratory of Engineering Plastics at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on the microstructural characterization and establishing structure-property relationships for functionalized polyolefin materials.
Yin Zhang
Dr. Yin Zhang received his PhD degree in 2023 from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of Prof. Wei You. Since December 2023, Dr. Zhang joined the National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Green Preparation Technology of Biobased Materials, Yunnan Minzu University as an Assistant Researcher. His research interest focuses on the design and development of green bio-based polymer materials.
Wei You
Dr. Wei You got his Bachelor degree from Tsinghua University in 2011 and PhD degree in organic chemistry from Indiana University, Bloomington in 2016. Then he started as a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University. Since November 2019, Dr. You joined the Key Laboratory of Engineering Plastics at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences as a principal investigator. His research interest focuses on the preparation of advanced functionalized polyolefin materials.
Investigation of the influence of substituents on the dielectric properties of polyethylene derivatives.
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RSC Applied Polymers is a leading international journal for the application of polymers, including experimental and computational studies on both natural and synthetic systems. In this journal, you can discover cross-disciplinary scientific research that leverages polymeric materials in a range of applications. This includes high impact advances made possible with polymers across materials, biology, energy applications and beyond.
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