Recent uses of flexible electret loudspeakers in futuristic applications have garnered much interest for these novel loudspeakers. In this paper, a novel thin film processing method was developed to improve the performance of an electret diaphragm. This paper discusses the relationship between the charge storage and the additive concentration. A cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) thin film containing an additive such as 2-(6-mercaptohexyl) malonic acid was prepared using a spin-coating process. Furthermore, attention was directed towards the processing conditions which were found to have an important role and are related to the self-assembly and micelle formation behavior of the additives in the COC. In the present study, thin films of 13 μm thickness were charged by a corona method. Compared with a reference thin film of pure COC, results indicated that when a 3497 mg kg −1 additive was added to the COC matrix, the obtained surface potential was 71% higher. Thus, the results show that a COC + additive thin film leads to a much improved charge storage. It appears to be an inexpensive and relatively easy way to form a thin structure for developing novel flexible electret loudspeakers.

Recent futuristic applications of flexible electret loudspeakers have garnered much interest for these novel loudspeakers. To increase the loudspeaker properties, a processing method was developed to improve the electret and mechanical properties of porous PTFE film. Taking a thin porous PTFE film as the base material, a cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) was coated to a base material to form a PTFE/COC composite film. Results show that the composite material improves the advantageous characteristics when used as an electret diaphragm for loudspeakers. By measuring the surface potential decay and the elastic modulus, properties of a standard porous PTFE film were compared to an improved composite PTFE/COC film. Experimental results showed that the composite PTFE/COC possess the following advantages: (1) 80% higher surface potential after 10 days at room temperature, (2) a better thermal resistance of charge storage, and (3) a 643% higher elastic modulus. Therefore, our novel composite material can be used to create a much improved electret diaphragm for flexible electret loudspeakers.