A type of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) copolymer exhibiting ferroelectric relaxor behavior at high temperature (∼100 °C)

We report a class of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] copolymers synthesized via reductive dechlorination from P(VDF-CTFE) [termed as the reduced P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer], which exhibit ferroelectric relaxor behavior at high temperature (similar to 100 degrees C). It was found that the reduced P(VDF-TrFE) 66/34 mol % copolymer has very high content of head-to-head and tail-to-tail defects, which may act as random defects, leading to the observed ferroelectric relaxor at high temperature. Furthermore, the reduced copolymer also exhibits a high melting point (similar to 200 degrees C), which also makes it attractive for high-temperature dielectric applications. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.