Electrical energy density and discharge characteristics of a poly(vinylidene fluoride-chlorotrifluoroethylene) copolymer

The high electric displacement (D>0.1 C/m(2)) and breakdown field (>600 MV/m) in polyvinylidene fluoride based polymers suggest high electrical energy density in this class of polymers. By defect modifications which reduce or eliminate the remnant polarization in the polymer, a high electrical energy density can indeed be obtained. This paper shows that in properly prepared P(VDF-CTFE) copolymer film capacitors, an electrical energy density similar to 25 J/cm(3) can be obtained with a breakdown field higher than 600 MV/m. The dielectric and discharge behavior of the polymer films were investigated. The results reveal that there are strong frequency dispersions in both the dielectric and discharge behavior. The dielectric constant decreases with frequency and the discharged energy density is also reduced at shorted discharge time (similar to 1 mu s) due to increased ESR for fast discharge. The results indicate the potential of this class of polymers for high energy density capacitors and suggest the need for further tuning of the polymer compositions to reduce the frequency dispersion.