Enhanced electrical properties of multiwalled carbon nanotube/poly(vinylidenefluoride) films through a rolling process

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) films containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared by solution casting method, followed by a rolling process. With the presence of MWCNTs (up to 0.3 wt%), the influence of rolling process on the crystal structure and the electrical properties of PVDF was studied. It is shown that rolling can induce phase transition as well as increase in the crystallinity of PVDF, leading to enhancement of ferroelectric and dielectric properties. In addition, MWCNTs may promote the phase transition of PVDF, while impeding the increase of crystallinity during the rolling process. With a higher breakdown field and a lower coercive electric field in comparison with the original films, the rolled films can be efficiently poled to obtain good piezoelectricity. Moreover, with the presence of MWCNTs, electric field-induced changes in crystallinity can be obviously observed in the poled MWCNTs/PVDF films. With the highest crystallinity of β-phase, the rolled films containing 0.075 wt% MWCNTs possess the highest piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ of ~33 pC/N while that of pure PVDF films is only ~22 pC/N.