Effects of configurational changes on molecular dynamics in polyvinylidene fluoride and poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) ferroelectric polymers

Journal Article · Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4929693· OSTI ID:1261465

Jalarvo, N. ^[1]; Pramanick, A. ^[2]; Do, C. ^[3]; Diallo, S. O. ^[3]

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1. Julich Research Centre (Germany); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
2. City Univ. of Hong Kong, Kowloon (Hong Kong)
3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Here, we present a comparative study of proton dynamics in unpoled non-ferroelectric polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and in its trifluoroethylene containing ferroelectric copolymer (with 70/30 molar proportion), using quasi-elastic neutron scattering. The neutron data reveal the existence of two distinct types of molecular motions in the temperature range investigated. Moreover, the slower motion, which is characterized in details here, is ascribed to protons jump diffusion along the polymeric carbon chains, while the faster motion could be attributed to localized rotational motion of methylene groups. At temperatures below the Curie point (T-c similar to 385 K) of the composite polymer, the slower diffusive mode experiences longer relaxation times in the ferroelectric blend than in the bare PVDF, although the net corresponding diffusion coefficient remains comparatively the same in both polymers with characteristic activation energy of E-A approximate to 27-33 kJ/mol. This arises because of a temperature dependent jump length r(0), which we observe to be effectively longer in the copolymer, possibly due to the formation of ordered ferroelectric domains below Tc. Above Tc, there is no appreciable difference in r(0) between the two systems. Our observation directly relates the known dependence of Tc on molar ratio to changes in r(0), providing fundamental insight into the ferroelectric properties of PVDF-based copolymers.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1261465
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 8; ISSN 0003-6951
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE