Measuring the Permittivity of Barium Titanate Nanoparticles in a Matrix-Free Composite

Sandia National Laboratories Engineering/Physics, 2015-16

Liaison(s): Todd Monson
Advisor(s): Richard Haskell, Albert Dato
Students(s): Kaitlin Hansen (TL-S), Kirk Lau (TL-F), Natasha Allen, Ashka Shah, Shruti Singapur Scott Tan, Olivia Schneble (F)

The Sandia National Labs clinic team is working to determine the dielectric constants of barium titanate (BTO) nanoparticles for use in the next generation of electrostatic capacitors. By fabricating and studying composites of BTO nanoparticles suspended and cured in epoxy, the team is investigating the effects of nanoparticle size, volume loading, and surface functionalization on the dielectric constant of the nanoparticles through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and numerical modeling techniques.