Dielectric Relaxation in Confined Ferroelectric Polymer

Abstract

The dynamics of segmental and chain motions in poly(vinylidene fluoride) confined to anodized aluminum oxide nanopores by melt-wetting was studied by broad-band dielectric spectroscopy. Molecular structure of the confined polymer was studied by means of wide-angle X-ray scattering in the transmission mode with ψ scanning. The confined polymer was found to form multilayered cylindrical mesostructure containing three polymorphs with the <020> direction of nonpolar polymorph II aligned along the pore channels. The relaxation rates of segmental motions in the amorphous phase of the polymer were found to be shorter in confined geometry than in the bulk, whereas the relaxation of the local mode was found to be broadened due to inhomogeneous relaxation times in the pores.

Keywords:

• Ferroelectric polymers
• Poly(vinylidene fluoride)
• Dielectric relaxation
• Confinement to anodic aluminum oxide cylindrical nanopores
• Wide-angle X-ray diffraction in transmission mode

Acknowledgment

The work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland: Research Project N N202 260534.