Electromechanical and Morphology Studies of P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE)/Methacrylate based Dielectric Elastomer blends

Abstract

PVDF based terpolymer, [P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE)] was blended with elastomeric methacrylate based triblock copolymers to examine the morphology change and electromechanical property for actuator applications. For this, the triblock copolymer of methyl methacralyte (MMA) and dodecyl metharylate (DMA) [poly(MMA-b-DMA-b-MMA)] was synthesized by sequential living radical polymerization of DMA followed by MMA from a difunctional initiator through Ru based atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The composite was prepared by solvent casting method from THF solution and examined its miscibility, morphology both in bulk and in thin film states by DSC, SAXS, and AFM, respectively. In addition, electro-mechanical properties were then examined under external electric field.