The dielectric permittivity and electric breakdown strength of nanocomposites comprising poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoro propylene) and phosphonic acid surface-modified BaTiO(3) nanoparticles have been investigated as a function of the volume fraction of nanoparticles. The mode of binding of pentafluorobenzylphosphonic acid on the BaTiO(3) particles was investigated using infrared and (31)P solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and the phosphonic acid was found to form well ordered, tightly bound monolayers. The effective permittivity of nanocomposites with low volume fractions (<50%) was in good agreement with standard theoretical models, with a maximum relative permittivity of 35. However, for nanoparticle volume fractions of greater than 50%, the effective permittivity was observed to decrease with increasing nanoparticle volume fraction, and this was correlated with an increase in porosity of the spin-coated nanocomposite films. The dielectric breakdown strength was also found to decrease with increasing volume fraction of the BaTiO(3) nanoparticles, with an abrupt decrease observed around 10% and a gradual decrease for volume fractions of 20-50%. Comparison of these results with model calculations, using statistical particle packing simulations and effective medium theory for the permittivity and breakdown strength, indicates the important roles of nanoparticle percolation and porosity of the nanocomposites on the dielectric properties. The measured energy density at a field strength of 164 V/mum, well below the breakdown strength, increased to a value of 3.2 J/cm(3) as the nanoparticle volume fraction is increased to 50%, roughly in line with the trend of the permittivity. The calculated maximum energy densities indicate maximal extractable energy (7-8 J/cm(3) at 1 kHz) for two different particle volume fractions, as a result of the interplay of the dependencies of permittivity and breakdown strength on volume fraction.

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The electric field induced phase transition behavior of lead lanthanum zirconate titanate stannate (PLZTS) ceramics was investigated. PLZTS undergoes a tetragonal antiferroelectric (AFETet) to rhombohedral ferroelectric (FERh) phase transition with the application of an electric field. The volume increase associated with this antiferroelectric (AFE)–ferroelectric (FE) phase transition plays an important role with respect to actuator applications. This volume increase involves an increase in both transverse and longitudinal strains. The E field at which the transverse strain increases is accompanied by an abrupt jump in polarization. The longitudinal strain, however, lags behind this polarization jump exhibiting a slight decrease at the onset of phase switching. This decoupling was related to the preferentially oriented AFE domain configuration, with its tetragonal c-axis perpendicular to the applied electric field. It is suggested that phase switching involves multiple steps involving both structural transformation and domain reorientation.

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The effect of introducing a multilayer microstructure on the dielectric properties of polymer materials is evaluated in 32- and 256-layer films with alternating polycarbonate (PC) and polyvinylidene-hexafluoropropylene (coPVDF) layers. The permittivity, dielectric loss, dielectric strength, and energy density were measured as a function of the relative PC/coPVDF volume concentrations. The permittivity follows an effective medium model while the dielectric strength was typically higher than that predicted by a volume fraction based weighted average of the components. Energy densities as high as ∼14J∕cm3, about 60% greater than that of the component polymers, are measured for 50% PC/50% coPVDF films.