Barium titanate and barium strontium titanate coated carbon fibers for multifunctional structural capacitors

Multifunctional materials can increase the performance of a system through the integration of multiple separate functional components into a single material system. This design approach offers widespread benefits and can be applied to a variety of applications. Here, we explore the integration of electrostatic energy storage and composite materials through the growth of a barium strontium titanate film on carbon fiber. The perovskite ceramic offers high dielectric constant and the use of BaxSr1-xTiO3 allows for the tuning of the dielectric, ferroelectric, and loss parameters to obtain an optimal energy storage stoichiometry. We have evaluated the dielectric and breakdown strength of the films to determine the energy storage density and demonstrate energy densities of 0.12 J/cc from a load-bearing fiber.