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Ba(Fe0.5Ta0.5)O3/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (BFT/PVDF) flexible nanocomposite films are fabricated by tape casting using dopamine (DA)-modified BFT nanopowders and PVDF as a matrix polymer. After a surface modification of installing a DA layer with a thickness of 5 nm, the interfacial couple interaction between BFT and PVDF is enhanced, resulting in less hole defects at the interface. Then the dielectric constant (e′), loss tangent (tan δ), and AC conductivity of nanocomposite films are reduced. Meanwhile, the value of the reduced dielectric constant (Δe′) and the strength of interfacial polarization (k) are introduced to illustrate the effect of DA on the dielectric behavior of nanocomposite films. Δe′ can be used to calculate the magnitude of interfacial polarization, and the strength of the dielectric constant contributed by the interface can be expressed as k. Most importantly, the energy-storage density and energy-storage efficiency of nanocomposite films with a small BFT@DA filler content of 1 vol % ...

We have used a ferroelectric BaTiO3 substrate with a hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanostructured surface to form a heterogeneous BaTiO3/α-Fe2O3 photocatalyst. In this study we show that varying the mass ratio of α-Fe2O3 on BaTiO3 has a significant influence on photoinduced decolorization of rhodamine B under simulated sunlight. The highest photocatalytic activity was obtained for BaTiO3–Fe2O3-0.001M, with the lowest mass ratio of α-Fe2O3 in our study. This catalyst exhibited a 2-fold increase in performance compared to pure BaTiO3 and a 5-fold increase when compared to the higher-surface-area pure α-Fe2O3. The increases in performance become more marked upon scaling for the lower surface area of the heterostructured catalyst. Performance enhancement is associated with improved charge-carrier separation at the interface between the ferroelectric surface, which exhibits ferroelectric polarization, and the hematite. Increasing the mass ratio of hematite increases the thickness of this layer, lowers the number of tripl...