Relaxor ferroelectric polymers-fundamentals and applications

We present recent studies in the fundamentals and applications of the relaxor ferroelectric polymers, i.e., Poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluroethylene- chlorofluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) terpolymers and high energy electron irradiated P(VDF-TrFE) copolymers. We show that the dynamic processes in these relaxor ferroelectric polymers are very similar to these observed in various polar-glasses. We further show that the large and reversible polarization change in these polymers leads to giant electrostriction and large electro-optic effect. By employing active electric boundary conditions, we demonstrate that the large electromechanical responses in these electroactive polymers can be made use of effectively for energy harvesting with high harvested electric energy density and efficiency. Terpolymer composites with ZnS nanoparticles provide an advanced E-O polymer which refractive index can be varied widely by small amount of ZnS in the composites while maintaining the large E-O effect of the matrix.