Apolar syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS) can easily form a stable clathrate co-crystalline phase with highly polar 4-nitroaniline molecules. The ferroelectric response of thin films containing the s-PS/4-nitroaniline clathrate phase has been investigated by scanning piezoresponse force microscopy (SPFM) and compared with the response of a poly(vinylidene-fluoride-trifluoroethylene) P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer film. Measurements show that ferroelectric polymer materials can be obtained by crystalline phases whose polarity is given by low-molecular-mass guest molecules rather than by polymer chain polarity. Moreover, as for P(VDF-TrFE), nanoimprinting processes can be applied to these materials by using the SPFM technique but, in the absence of external fields, the SPFM images are lost through an exponential intensity decay.
Ferroelectric co-crystalline polymers
DANIEL, Christophe;BOBBA, Fabrizio;CUCOLO, Anna Maria;GUERRA, Gaetano
2011-01-01
Abstract
Apolar syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS) can easily form a stable clathrate co-crystalline phase with highly polar 4-nitroaniline molecules. The ferroelectric response of thin films containing the s-PS/4-nitroaniline clathrate phase has been investigated by scanning piezoresponse force microscopy (SPFM) and compared with the response of a poly(vinylidene-fluoride-trifluoroethylene) P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer film. Measurements show that ferroelectric polymer materials can be obtained by crystalline phases whose polarity is given by low-molecular-mass guest molecules rather than by polymer chain polarity. Moreover, as for P(VDF-TrFE), nanoimprinting processes can be applied to these materials by using the SPFM technique but, in the absence of external fields, the SPFM images are lost through an exponential intensity decay.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.