Novel Polyetherimide Dielectrics: Molecular Design, Energy Storage Property, and Self-Healing Performance

The development of high-temperature resistant dielectrics with excellent dielectric properties and self-healing behavior is crucial for the application of metallized film capacitors. In this work, a series of polyetherimide (PEI) dielectric films are designed and fabricated. The introduction of polar groups is in favor to the increase of permittivity, and the flexible connection such as the ether group will facilitate the reduction of dielectric loss. Moreover, the oxygen elements are beneficial to the “self-healing” of metallized film capacitors. Consequently, the permittivity of 3.53–4.00, dissipation factor of 0.281–0.517%, and Weibull breakdown strength of 347–674 MV m −1 are obtained for the PEI dielectrics. In addition, PEI-4 (BPADA-BAPP) and PEI-8 (BPADA-MDA) are selected to further investigate dielectric breakdown (150 °C), electrical displacement-electric filed (D-E) loop (at room temperature and 150 °C) as well as self-healing performance, which will evaluate their potential in practical applications. The results show that PEI-8 has stable breakdown field strength and high charge–discharge efficiency at elevated temperatures. Metallized film capacitor based on PEI-8 exhibits excellent self-healing performance, with pleasing self-clear morphology, high breakdown voltage, and reduced self-healing energy. Therefore, PEI-8 is considered as a potential candidate for metallized film capacitors applied under harsh conditions.