Poly(arylene ether nitrile)s with sulfonic and carboxylic groups (SCPEN) were synthesized to investigate their electrical properties. This new series of copolymers were prepared by copolymerization of phenolphthalein, potassium hydroquinonesulfonate, and 2,6-difluorobenzonitrile, in different mole ratios. Their thermal, mechanical and dielectric properties were investigated in detail. By adjusting the composition of sulfonic and carboxylic groups, it can be concluded that the dielectric constant increases with the increase of sulfonic groups, and mechanical and thermal properties improve with the increase of carboxylic groups. The as-prepared SCPEN films show potential applications in electronic storage materials, which provide insights into the correlation of SCPEN electrical properties with its chemical structure. The structure–property relationship is established to broaden the application of functionalized PEN. Furthermore, SCPEN with rich polar groups may also be used as the polymer matrix to increase the interaction with the filler surface, ensuring a better dispersion of filler in the matrix. This provides a reference for the development of high dielectric materials.

Barium titanate (BT) and polyarylene ether nitrile (PEN) nanocomposites with enhanced dielectric properties were obtained by using carboxylatedzinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc-COOH) buffer as the plasticizer. Carboxylated zinc phthalocyanine, prepared through hydrolyzing ZnPc in NaOH solution, reacted with the hydroxyl groups on the peripheral of hydrogen peroxide treated BT (BT-OH) yielding core-shell structured BT@ZnPc. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), TEM energy dispersive spectrometer mapping, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) demonstrated successful preparation of BT@ZnPc. The fabricated BT@ZnPc was incorporated into the PEN matrix through the solution casting method. Rheological measurements demonstrated that the ZnPc-COOH buffer can improve the compatibility between BT and PEN effectively. With the existence of the ZnPc-COOH buffer, the prepared BT@ZnPc/PEN nanocomposites exhibit a high dielectric constant of 5.94 and low dielectric loss (0.016 at 1000 Hz). BT@ZnPc/PEN dielectric composite films can be easily prepared, presenting great application prospects in the field of organic film capacitors.

In this paper, barium titanate@zinc phthalocyanine (BT@ZnPc) and graphene oxide (GO) hybrids (BT@ZnPc-GO) connected by calcium ions are prepared by electrostatic adsorption, and then introduced into polyarylene ether nitrile (PEN) to obtain composites with enhanced dielectric and crystallization properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results confirm the successful fabrication of the BT@ZnPc-GO. BT@ZnPc-GO and PEN composites (BT@ZnPc-GO/PENs) are obtained through the solution-casting method. BT@ZnPc-GO demonstrates well compatibility with PEN due to its unique structure and the organic layer of ZnPc at the periphery of BT. On the other hand, BT and GO contribute a high dielectric constant of the composites obtained. In addition, the BT@ZnPc-GO can be used as a nucleating agent to promote the crystallization of the nanocomposites. As a result, The BT@ZnPc-GO/PEN exhibits a dielectric constant of 6.4 at 1 kHz and crystallinity of 21.03% after being isothermally treated at 280 °C for 2 h at the GO content of 0.75 wt %. All these results indicate that the hybrid nanofiller BT@ZnPc-GO can be an effective additive for preparing high-performance PEN-based nanocomposites.