Abstract

The dielectric properties of silicone elastomer composites are important in designing flexible electronic devices. The recent explosive growth in wireless communication, automotive and biomedical applications increases the demand for flexible dielectric materials. However, it is very difficult to identify a homogeneous material which possesses these desired properties. Flexible silicone rubber- ceramic composites based BaTiO₃ (BT), SrTiO₃ (ST) and Ca(₁₋ₓ)Nd(₂ₓ/₃)TiO₃ (CNT) ceramic fillers have been prepared. The relative permittivity, thermal conductivity and water absorption increase whereas the coefficient of linear thermal expansion decrease as the volume fraction of filler increases. In the case of dielectric loss; a decreasing trend is shown by SR-ST and SR-CNT composites with filler volume fraction whereas SR-BT composites show a reverse trend since BT is a lossy material. The composites have εr in the range 3–14 in the microwave frequency range. The composites with high filler loading are suitable candidates for core of flexible dielectric waveguide and embedded capacitor applications and the composites with ST and CNT are suitable for cladding of flexible dielectric waveguide and also for microwave substrate applications.