ELECTROMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF ELECTROSTRICTIVE POLY(VINYLIDENEFLUORIDE-TRIFLUOROETHYLENE) COPOLYMER

We report a large electrostrictive strain in electron irradiated poly( vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) copolymer at a composition with 65 mol % vinylidene fluoride, which also exhibits a large ratio of st rain to applied field (similar to 275 pm/V). The strain response is ne arly independent of the external driving condition (unipolar or bipola r field) and does not change with temperature in about 20 degrees C te mperature range near room temperature. Moreover, near room temperature , the material can reach a relatively high quasistatic longitudinal el ectromechanical coupling factor k(33)similar to 0.33. (C) 1998 America n Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)03040-X].