Effect of Processing Conditions on the Microstructure and Electromechanical Response of PVDF TrFE CTFE Terpolymers Available to Purchase

Effect of annealing time on the micro structure and electromechanical properties PVDF TrFE CTFE terpolymer with 7.8 mol % CTFE was investigated to better understand structure-property relationships in these polymers. DSC results show that the 9 hr-annealing time gives the maximum enthalpy of melting which suggests the crystallinity of the polymer is increased. WAXS results show that annealing increases the proportion of the γ-phase with the ratio of the intensity of γ-phase to α-phase increases with more annealing time. Dielectric spectroscopic study of 9hr-annealed film also suggests that the film shows complete relaxor ferroelectric behavior with a maximum electrostrictive strain up to 4.4 % compared to 4.1 % for the 2.5 hr-annealed film. Finally, annealing time higher than 9 hrs result in a decrease in the electrostrictive strain.