Metallic nanoparticles in dielectrics: A comparative study

The Maxwell-Garnett method is used to predict the effective dielectric constant and the tangent loss of various composites consisting of a PVDF-TrFE-CFE-matrix and metallic microsphere fillers made of Cu, Ni, W, Zn, or Fe. Simulation results demonstrate that for small filler fraction values and at low frequencies, the electrical properties of the resulting composite do not depend on the conductivity of the filler. These findings show that composites fabricated using cheaper metal nanoparticle fillers are as effective as those fabricated using expensive ones.