Reference #: 01005
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for conjugated aromatic/heteroaromatic, oligomer-containing polymers and their usage as high performance dielectric materials in the development of compact capacitors (with high energy density) for power electronics and pulse power applications.
Invention Description:
The subject invention prepares π-conjugated, aromatic/heteroaromatic, oligomer-containing, vinyl monomers and their polymers, and explores their usage as dielectric materials in capacitors for energy storage applications. In various embodiments, the aromatic/heteroaromatic oligomer is attached as the side groups of monomers and polymers. The invention is further directed to methods of its use.
Potential Applications:
Dielectric materials, optical and electronic materials, energy storage devices, power electronics, power conditioning, pulse power systems, etc.
Advantages and Benefits:
1. The preparation of various monomers and that of side-chain polymers (homopolymer, block copolymers, etc.) is quite simple and highly efficient, which ensures relatively low cost and facilitates large-scale processability.
2. These polymers demonstrate high permittivity and low dielectric loss across a wide range of frequency.
3. These polymers could form true crystalline dipolar nanodomains, resulting in interfacially–dominated dielectric materials that store energy through electronic conduction and interfacial polarization, which dictates the high dielectric performance.
4. Unlike traditional ceramic–polymer composites and PVDF-based polymers, these novel polymers are well suited for capacitor applications requiring high energy density and fast pulse power response.
5. These polymer dielectrics also demonstrate the intrinsic merits of polymer materials (e.g., good mechanical properties, light weight, relatively high breakdown strength, etc.
Background:
Novel polymeric materials with superior dielectric properties are of great interest due to their potential applications as capacitor materials in portable electronic devices, power electronics, and pulse power systems. High performance capacitors, typically ceramics, have high dielectric permittivity but low breakdown strength, limiting their energy density and making them impractical for energy storage and pulse power applications.
Polymers with pi-conjugated side chains have potential as novel dielectric materials. Structurally, well-defined pi-conjugation in the polymer side-chain and high polarizability of heteroatoms existing in the heteroaromatic rings offer favorable electron delocalization within the side-chain of macromolecule and could possibly result in a higher dielectric polarizability. Additionally, the small nanoscale domains of organized aromatic/heteroaromatic oligomer side chains would allow sufficiently fast polarizability response under high frequency electric fields. It is expected that such π-conjugated side-chain polymers will circumvent the limitations of existing polymer dielectrics to meet requirements for next-generation polymer dielectrics for power electronics and pulse power applications.