ABSTRACT
Due to their use in contemporary microelectronics, power systems, inverters, medical devices, electrical vehicles and other applications, the development of improved dielectric materials with high-power densities and quick charge–discharge capabilities has attracted significant interest. By combining the strong breakdown strength of polymers with the high dielectric constant of fillers, polymer composites offer superior dielectric qualities over traditional single-component dielectric materials. The most popular and traditional filler used to create high dielectric constant polymer composites is ceramic. Ceramics, however, have a significant drawback in that they can only be used in high concentrations to produce the desired results, which degrades the mechanical properties of the resulting composites. Graphite, nanocarbon, carbon nanotubes and other carbon-based fillers are conductive fillers that can improve high dielectric constant at low concentrations close to the percolation threshold. Additionally, their low cost and good mechanical, electrical and thermal qualities made them a material of interest in this industry. Despite the promising characteristics of carbon-based polymer composites (CPCs), compatibility issues at the filler matrix interface and an increase in current leakage at high conductivity have long been persistent as the major obstacles preventing CPCs from being fully utilized as dielectric materials. Inspite of the numerous attempts to address the issues by changing the interface, significant work is still required to build CPCs with high- dielectric permittivity and energy-storage density. This chapter examines the use of carbon-based polymer composites as 82dielectric energy-storage materials, obstacles encountered and improvements made to the material to address the challenges and potential future applications.
