Phase transformation and enhancement of toughness in polyvinylidene fluoride by onium salts

We study the effect of onium salts (benzyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride, BTPC; tetrabutyl ammonium perchlorate, TAP) on the crystallization of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) from a melt. The β phase of PVDF crystals is polar and has excellent piezoelectric properties, in contrast to the nonpolar α...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of polymer science. Part B, Polymer physics Polymer physics, 2011-09, Vol.49 (18), p.1339-1344
Main Authors: Vijayakumar, R.P, Khakhar, Devang V, Misra, Ashok
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Chlorides
crystal structures
crystallization
Crystals
Exact sciences and technology
Mechanical properties
melting
melting point
Melts
microscopy
nucleation
Organic polymers
perchlorates
phase transformation
Physicochemistry of polymers
Polarization
polymers
Polyvinylidene fluorides
Properties and characterization
PVDF
Reduction
Tetrabutyls
Toughness
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We study the effect of onium salts (benzyl triphenyl phosphonium chloride, BTPC; tetrabutyl ammonium perchlorate, TAP) on the crystallization of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) from a melt. The β phase of PVDF crystals is polar and has excellent piezoelectric properties, in contrast to the nonpolar α phase. Processing of PVDF results in the formation of predominantly α-phase crystals. Different amounts of the onium salts were melt-mixed into PVDF using a micro-compounder. PVDF containing about 0.5 wt % of BTPC is found to have predominantly β-phase crystals in compression molded PVDF films, with an increase in the melting temperature by about 7 °C. A significant increase in the toughness of PVDF is obtained by the addition of BTPC. Polarizing microscopy indicates that the onium salts act as nucleating agents and result in significant reduction in spherulite size. Similar results were observed for samples prepared with TAP. The results of the study indicate a facile method for producing β-phase PVDF films.
ISSN:0887-6266
1099-0488
1099-0488
DOI:10.1002/polb.22303