Hydrothermal synthesis of dendritic BaTiO3 ceramic powders and its application in BaTiO3/P(VDF‐TrFE) composites

Dendritic BaTiO3 ceramic powders (d-BT) were prepared by hydrothermal method in order to improve the dielectric properties of d-BT/P(VDF-TrFE) composites, in which, KOH was used as the branch-directing agent. The effect of hydrothermal time on the branch length of d-BT particle was mainly studied. The results showed that 1.0-2.5 μm d-BT particles were obtained after hydrothermal treating for 12 hours. The particle was composed of two kinds of branches, one was primary branch with about 800 nm in length and another with150-250 nm. A d-BT/P(VDF-TrFE) composites were formed by solution casting, in which d-BT powders as dielectric fillers and the composites exhibited high-energy storage performance. Its maximum energy density reached to 9.78 J/cm3, twice as compared with pure P(VDF-TrFE). The branches of d-BT particles may act as key roles when the composites existed in electric field. Some branches perpendicular to the external electric field provided the increase in the breakdown strength and others parallel to the external electric field brought the enhancement of the dielectric constant, which simultaneously resulted in high energy density of the composites.