Preparation and characterization of P(VDF-TrFE)/Al₂O₃ nanocomposite

Abstract

Hybrid nanocomposites based on crystalline nanoparticles dispersed in polymer matrix have been widely studied in the past few years because of the ability of these materials to combine the properties of organic polymer and inorganic nanoparticles. The aim of this work is to tune the mechanical properties of a piezoelectric polymer by adding nanoparticles to the matrix. In this paper, alumina nanoparticles were dispersed in the copolymer P(VDF-TrFE), which exhibits high piezoelectric coefficient after polarization under high electric field without needing stretching during the polarization process. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy demonstrate the high rate of welldispersed nanoparticles with 10% of alumina nanoparticles added to the matrix. Piezoelectric measurements indicate that P(VDF-TrFE) may be filled by up to 10 wt% of alumina while retaining its high piezoelectric properties and increasing its elastic constant by more than 20%, measured by Brillouin spectroscopy. This work opens a wide range of applications using nanoparticles with nonlinear optical, pyroelectric, magnetic, or ferroelectric properties.

Effect of ultrasonication and other processing conditions on the morphology, thermomechanical, and piezoelectric properties of poly(vinylidene difluoride-trifluoroethylene) copolymer films

“…Thin films are often prepared by solvent casting , spin‐coating , hot pressing/compression molding , or Langmuir–Blodgett deposition for different thicknesses and applications. A critical thickness of crystallization of P(VDF‐TrFE) thin films was observed at about 100 nm ; the crystallization for thinner films is strongly inhibited, resulting in a decrease of crystallinity, dielectric constant, and remanent polarization.…”

Nanocomposite piezoelectric films of P(VDF‐TrFE)/LiNbO3

“…The effect of the filler addition is more obvious on the damping factor ( Figure 8) with a viscous behavior enhancement of 30%. 10,30,32 In the present study, the nanoparticles did not have great effect on mechanical properties, for a concentration in nanoparticles ranging from 1 to 10 wt %. 33 As reported in the literature, nanofillers have usually a strong interaction with polymer matrix, which enhances the mechanical properties of the resulting nanocomposites.…”

“…On the other hand, few nonpiezoelectric nanofillers like carbon nanotubes, 9 aluminum oxide 10 and piezoelectric ones such as barium titanate 11 and lead titanate 12 have been incorporated in this copolymer with different concentrations and configurations. Electrical properties of P(VDF-TrFE) nanocomposites were enhanced by adding nanofillers.…”

“…The piezoelectric activity of nanocomposite filled with ferroelectric LiNbO 3 nanoparticles was compared with the results of nonferroelectric Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles in the previous study 10 for deeper understanding of the effect of ferroelectric nanoparticles at the macroscopic scale of nanocomposites.…”

Brillouin spectroscopy: A new tool to decipher viscoelastic properties of biological scaffold functionalized with nanoscale films

“…For instance, torsion pendulum informs about the shear modulus G, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) gives the Young's modulus E, micro-harness, or micro-indentation, gives information about the Knoop hardness H k and the Vickers hardness H v from which E is deduced, acoustic microscopy (ultrasounds) and Brillouin spectroscopy allow reaching the set of elastic constants c ij [12]. The frequency of the measurement has also to be taken into account, from static measurement for micro-hardness to some GHz for Brillouin spectroscopy (frequency of the acoustic phonons in the material), by the Hz range for torsion pendulum and DMA, and MHz-GHz for ultrasounds).…”