Large enhancement in polarization response and energy density of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) by interface effect in nanocomposites

The authors report the finding of large enhancement in the electric energy density and electric displacement level in nanocomposites of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) relaxor ferroelectric polymer/ZrO2 nanoparticles. Through the interface effect, the presence of the nanoparticles (with only 1.6 vol % of ZrO2 nanoparticles in the composite) raises the maximum electric displacement D from 0.085 C/m(2) under 400 MV/m in the neat terpolymer to more than 0.11 C/m(2) under 300 MV/m in the nanocomposites. Consequently, a high energy density of 10.5 J/cm(3) can be achieved under a lower field (300 MV/m) in the nanocomposites compared with the neat terpolymer.