Barium titanate/polyamide 11 (BT/PA11) nanocomposites were prepared by modifying BT nanoparticles with dry surface modification process, which had well dispersion, high dielectric constant, and low dielectric loss. Various methods were reported to improve dispersion and compatibility with complex process and high cost. Herein, three surfactants [ γ‐aminopropyl triethoxy silane (KH550), sorbitan monostearate (SP60), and octadecyl phosphate ester (OPE)] were chosen to modify BT nanoparticles. Then modified‐BT nanoparticles were blended with PA11. The structure was characterized by Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscope, and wide angle X‐ray diffraction. Dielectric property was studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy. The frequency dependence and temperature dependence of dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and dielectric modulus were analyzed. In general, dielectric property has strong frequency and temperature dependence. Furthermore, dielectric spectra shows that modified BT/PA11 nanocomposites have higher dielectric constant, lower dielectric loss, fewer interface polarization, and more dipole polarization. In contrast to three surfactants, OPE‐BT nanoparticles have better effects, whose dielectric constant increases from 19 to 28 at 1 Hz, and dielectric loss decreases from 0.36 to 0.23. Meanwhile, mechanical property was characterized by universal testing machine. In all, the work improves dispersion of BT nanoparticles and dielectric property with easy process and low cost. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47447.

Polymer composites with high dielectric constant are promising materials for energy-storage application. However, their development has generally been hindered due to the challenge to balance dielectric constant and loss tangent. In this work, a novel thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)-based composite with high dielectric constant and low loss tangent was prepared by inducing polyamide-1(PA1). The optimal content of PA1 in TPU matrix was 1.0 wt %. Importantly, the dielectric constant of TPU exhibited great stability at the frequency range of 10 3 -10 6 Hz and increased sharply with the addition of PA1. In specific, the dielectric constant of TPU increased from 8 to 41 with the incorporation of 1.0 wt % PA1, which was five times higher than that of pure TPU. Meanwhile, the loss tangent still kept at a low level of less than 0.02. This work may provide a new direction for preparation of dielectric polymer composites with excellent comprehensive performance.