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Effect of crystallite size on the deformation and fracture of poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluorethylene) ferroelectric copolymer films under uniaxial tension
Author(s) -
Fang F.,
Yang W.,
Jia C.,
Zhang F.C.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.21185
Subject(s) - materials science , crystallite , composite material , copolymer , annealing (glass) , scanning electron microscope , microstructure , brittleness , polymer , metallurgy
The deformation and fracture behavior is characterized for poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluorethylene) 75/25 mol% copolymer films under uniaxial tension. The films are prepared by solution casting and then annealed at 135°C for 2 h, 6 h, and at 140°C for 2 h, respectively. The results demonstrate that all the copolymer films show the typical polymeric brittle fracture behavior. The copolymer film annealed at 135°C for 2 h shows the best combination of ductility and strength, with the fracture strain reaching 9.6%. Scanning electron microscope observation and X‐ray diffraction analysis are carried out to examine the morphology and microstructure change during uniaxial tension. It is revealed that the average size of the polymer crystallites increases while the content of the crystallites hardly changes as the annealing time or temperature increases. Reduction in the crystallite size leads to enhanced fracture strain and strength for the copolymer film under uniaxial tension. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers