Study of the local electric field and the Curie transition of ferroelectric polymers

The ferroelectric properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and vinylidene fluoride/trifluoroethylene (VDF/TrFE) copolymers were investigated, with special emphasis on their local electric field and phase transition behavior. The objective of this work was (1) to find the theoretical values of the spontaneous polarization of PVDF and VDF/TrFE copolymers; (2) to evaluate experimentally the Lorentz factor for PVDF beta -phase crystal, which relates the local electric field to the spontaneous polarization; and (3) to investigate the influence of the electrostatic interactions on ferroelectric-to-paraelectric phase transition of VDF/TrFE copolymers.<>