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Electrocaloric Enhancement Induced by Cocrystallization of Vinylidene Difluoride-Based Polymer Blends
Active thermal control will be a major challenge of the twenty-first century, which has emphasized the need for the development of energy-efficient refrigeration techniques such as electrocaloric (EC) cooling. Highly polar semicrystalline VDF-based polymers are promising organic EC materials, howeve...
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Published in: | ACS macro letters 2021-12, Vol.10 (12), p.1555-1562 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Active thermal control will be a major challenge of the twenty-first century, which has emphasized the need for the development of energy-efficient refrigeration techniques such as electrocaloric (EC) cooling. Highly polar semicrystalline VDF-based polymers are promising organic EC materials, however, their cooling performance, which is highly structurally dependent, needs further improvement to become competitive. Here, we report a simple method to increase the crystalline coherence of P(VDF-ter-TrFE-ter-CFE) terpolymer in the plane including the polar direction. This is achieved by blending P(VDF-ter-TrFE-ter-CFE) with minute amounts of P(VDF-co-TrFE) copolymer with similar VDF/TrFE unit content. This similarity allows for a cocrystallization of the copolymer chains in the terpolymer crystalline lamellae, preferentially extending the lateral coherence without lamellar thickening, as validated with a wide range of structural characterization. This trend results in a significant dielectric and electrocaloric enhancement, with a remarkable electrocaloric effect, ΔT EC = 5.2 K, confirmed by direct measurements for a moderate electric field of 90 MV·m–1 in a blend with 1 wt % of copolymer. |
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ISSN: | 2161-1653 2161-1653 |
DOI: | 10.1021/acsmacrolett.1c00576 |