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Voided space-charge electrets : piezoelectric transducer materials for electro-acoustic applications
(2004)
In cellular, electromechanically active polymer films, the so-called ferroelectrets, the cell size and shape distributions can be varied through a controlled inflation process. Up to now, high-pressure treatments were usually performed at elevated temperatures. There are, however, significant experimental limitations and complications if the pressure and temperature treatments are performed at the same time. Here, we demonstrate the controlled inflation of cellular polypropylene films by means of sepal-ate pressure and temperature treatments. Separate procedures are Much easier to implement. Excellent electromechanical properties were achieved with Such a two-step inflation process. The technique has significant potential for inflating large-area transducer films for electromechanical and electroacoustical applications
Piezo-, pyro- and ferroelectricity in poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) copolymer films
(2004)
Thin films of poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) P(VDF-HFP) show significant electroactive properties, such as piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity and electrostriction. Suitable polar P(VDF-HFP) copolymer films can be prepared by melt-pressing or solution-casting. Dipolar orientation causes the macroscopic polarization and thus also the symmetry breaking necessary for electroactive properties. We discuss the polarization build-up in thin, stretched and non-stretched, films of P(VDF-HFP) copolymer with a HFP content of 15%. Poling currents measured in-situ during electric poling are analyzed and the polarization is calculated. Suitable electric poling leads to hysteresis phenomena of the polarization as a function of the electric field as well as to significant polarization during switching experiments. Our results indicate dipolar orientation also in non-stretched P(VDF-HFP) films
The stability of space charge in electrets such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyethylene terephthalate (PETP) and polypropylene (PP) under ultraviolet irradiation has been investigated using photostimulated discharge spectroscopy. While only weak discharge currents were observed in PTFE coated with semitransparent gold electrodes, up to 15 pA/cm(2) were found in PETP around the UV absorption edge near 310 nm. Space charge profiles obtained with the piezoelectrically generated pressure step method indicate that near-surface charges were almost completely removed. In PP foam, recent findings of a UV-reduced d(33) coefficient were confirmed for exposure times of up to 3.5 h, and a discharge peak at 200 urn could be assigned to the charges stored on the surfaces of the voids. The unique morphology and the (quasi-) piezoelectric properties of cellular PP make it a role model for the future investigation of charge storage in electrets
Ferroelectrets : electrically charged polymer foams as quasi-piezoelectric transducer materials
(2004)
Ferroelectric polyamide 11 films were prepared by melt-quenching, cold-drawing and electrical poling. Their ferroelectricity was studied by means of dielectric-hysteresis measurements. A remnant polarisation of up to 35 mC/m(2) and a coercive field of 75 MV/m were obtained. The piezoelectric d(33) coefficient and the pyroelectric coefficient of the films are reduced by annealing just below the melting region, but remain at about 3 pC/N and 8 muC/(m(2)K), respectively, during further heat treatment. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) and thermally stimulated depolarisation (TSD) were applied for investigating the conformational changes induced by melt-quenching, cold-drawing and annealing. The results indicate that the cold-drawn film mainly consists of a rigid amorphous phase which exhibits considerably lower conductivity, no glass transition and consequently no dielectric a relaxation. Instead, an a, relaxation is found, which is related to chain motions in regions of the rigid amorphous phase where the amide-group dipoles are not perfectly ordered. Annealing removes imperfectly ordered structures, but does not affect the ferroelectric polarisation. Therefore, it may be concluded that essentially the a, relaxation causes the thermally non-stable part of the piezo- and pyroelectricity in polyamide 11
Organic materials with non-centrosymmetric chromophores are known to be susceptible to a number of photochemical processes, including reversible isomerization reactions as well as irreversible photo-oxidation or photo- reduction reactions. Reversible isomerization is the basis for a variety of applications, such as photo-induced poling, optical data storage and optical grating formation. The irreversible processes that involve the destruction of the chromophores have been found useful for the fabrication of optical waveguides, but they also limit the life times of polymeric photonic devices. In this paper, it is demonstrated that dielectric measurements allow for an in-depth investigation of non-reversible chromophore degradation processes in a typical side-chain polymer. The time- and temperature-dependent dielectric function of the polymer at 1 kHz enables us to follow the chromophore-degradation kinetics and to monitor the bleaching depth as a function of time at room and elevated temperatures
When exposed to sufficiently high electric fields, polymer-foam electret materials with closed cells exhibit ferroelectric-like behavior and may therefore be called ferroelectrets. In cellular ferroelectrets, the influence of the cell size and shape distributions on the application-relevant properties is not yet understood. Therefore, controlled inflation experiments were carried out on cellular polypropylene films, and the resulting elastical and electromechanical parameters were determined. The elastic modulus in the thickness direction shows a minimum with a corresponding maximum in the electromechanical transducer coefficient. The resonance frequency shifts as a function of the elastic modulus and the relative density of the inflated cellular films. Therefore, the transducer properties of cellular ferroelectrets can be optimized by means of controlled inflation. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics