Shear flexoelectric response along 3121 direction in polyvinylidene fluoride

Flexoelectricity describes the strain gradient-induced electric polarization. Due to the restrictions of experiment technologies, some of the components of flexoelectric coefficient have not been experimentally obtained. In this letter, an experimental method for the measurement of the shear flexoelectric response along 3121 direction of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is presented. An experiment is conducted on various unpolarized specimens, where shear strain gradient is generated along the radial direction by applying torque to 3 specially designed specimens. The generated shear strain gradient is calculated via finite element analysis and the corresponding induced electrical response is measured. Dynamic torque is exerted on the specimens with a static bias value and at different frequencies. The shear flexoelectric coefficient mu(3121) is found to have an average value of 1.037 x 10(-8) C/m. With this method, the shear flexoelectric response along 3121 direction of PVDF is experimentally obtained. The experimental results show good agreement with the current research results and indicate the potential value of this material property for electromechanical device fabrication. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.