Effects of Moisture on Structure and Electrophysical Properties of a Ferroelectric Composite from Nanoparticles of Cellulose and Triglycine Sulfate

CONDENSED MATTER

Effects of Moisture on Structure and Electrophysical Properties

of a Ferroelectric Composite from Nanoparticles of Cellulose

and Triglycine Sulfate

Bich Dung Mai1 & Hoai Thuong Nguyen2,3 & Dinh Hien Ta4

Received: 6 November 2018 /Published online: 8 April 2019

# Sociedade Brasileira de Física 2019

Abstract

In this study, a novel ferroelectric composite consisting of triglycine sulfate and cellulose nanoparticles at different weight

composition ratios was successfully synthesized. A comparative study on structure and electrophysical properties for dried

and wet composite samples was carried out. The measurements of electrophysical parameters were performed from 10 to

120 °C under a weak electric field with an amplitude of 1 V cm−1 at low and infra-low frequencies (10−3

–103 Hz) under different

relative humidities of 0, 30, 60, 80, and 100%. The characterization results showed a significant impact of moisture on crystal￾linity and features of functional groups in the composite. Besides, phase transition temperature of the composite increased by 3 to

63 °C higher than those for single crystal of triglycine sulfate (+ 49 °C) in dependence on cellulose content in the composite.

Along with a significant increase in dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and dielectric dispersion in the composite due to high

conductivity caused by moisture, the water molecules on sample surface led to the appearance of addition peaks in temperature

dependences of dielectric constant and dielectric loss tangent in the initial stage of heating. All the anomalies can be explained by

the strong interaction through hydrogen bonds between triglycine sulfate and cellulose components as well as between these

components and water molecules in the composite.

Keywords Nanocomposites . Ferroelectrics . Humidity . Phase transition . Cellulose

1 Introduction

Recently, one of the most urgent global issues is related to the

ever-growing amount of electronic waste (e-waste) discharged

from out-of-order electronics devices with about 50 million

tons forecasted to reach by 2018 [1, 2], causing serious prob￾lems for ecosystems and human health. The reason is

associated with the fact that most of materials used to manu￾facture electronics systems are originated from inorganic sub￾stances, which are toxic to environment after service life. In

the context, the inspiration from nature has encouraged re￾searchers to create biodegradable forms called as Bgreen

electronics^; for that, natural abundant materials are preferred

to be used. In this regard, cellulose with low cost, light weight,

high electrical stability, and biodegradability is considered as a

promising candidate [3, 4]. With these advantages, cellulose

can be a perfect substrate for preparing transistors [3, 5] and

OLEDs [6], an ideal support material for photovoltaic cells [7]

and the main material for processing of highly flexible, sus￾tainable optoelectronic devices [2]. However, to achieve the

stable and optimal performance of cellulose in electronics de￾vices, it is needed to overcome several shortcomings caused

by its high adsorption capacity towards moisture. In this re￾gard, understanding of effects of humidity on electrophysical

properties of materials is extremely important for preparation

of cellulose-containing electrical and electronic equipment.

Among advanced electrical and electronics materials, fer￾roelectric nanocomposites are promising for manufacturing

* Hoai Thuong Nguyen

[email protected]

1 Institute of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Industrial

University of Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

2 Division of Computational Physics, Institute for Computational

Science, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

3 Faculty of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Ton Duc Thang

University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

4 Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technology, Ho

Chi Minh City University of Food Industry, Ho Chi Minh

City, Vietnam

Brazilian Journal of Physics (2019) 49:333–340

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13538-019-00658-5