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Polymer Electrets and Ferroelectrets as EAPs: Materials

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Electromechanically Active Polymers

Part of the book series: Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series ((POPOC))

Abstract

Recent progress relating to polymer electret and ferroelectret materials is reviewed. As for polymer electret materials, the development is described in two aspects: (i) Modified conventional polymer electret materials with improved electret properties. The improvement of the electret properties is achieved by incorporating suitable additives, by blending different polymer compounds, or by modifying with certain chemicals. Sometimes, the properties can be further enhanced by physical aging. (ii) Newly introduced high-performance polymer electrets. Parylene HT® and CYTOP are two examples. They can not only retain high surface charge densities but also show exceptional high temperature stability. Moreover, they are compatible with MEMS technology and therefore are particularly attractive for applications in micro power electret generators.

The research of ferroelectret, as a relatively new branch in the field of electret, has been advanced significantly in recent years. A considerable number of cellular polymer foams and polymer film systems containing internal cavities have been developed and identified as ferroelectrets. Following the early example of cellular polypropylene (PP) ferroelectret, cellular foam ferroelectrets have been developed from polyesters (polyethylene terephthalate PETP and poly(ethylene naphthalate) PENP), cyclo-olefin copolymer (COC), and fluoroethylenepropylene (FEP). The cellular structures, formed by techniques such as stretching filler-loaded polymer melt and foaming with supercritical CO2, can be adjusted and optimized with gas-diffusion expansion process. Besides, the number of ferroelectrets of polymer film systems with internal cavities is rapidly increasing. These are layer structures, composed of hard (solid) and soft (highly porous) polymer layers, and polymer film systems containing regular cavities. Polytetrafluoroehylene (PTFE) (solid or porous) and polycarbonate (PC) are also added to the list of candidate materials for making this type of ferroelectrets. These exciting developments significantly enlarge the range of functional space-charge polymer electrets and bring forth numerous novel applications.

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  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 24-25, Building 28, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany

    Xunlin Qiu

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  1. School Engineering & Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Federico Carpi

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Qiu, X. (2016). Polymer Electrets and Ferroelectrets as EAPs: Materials. In: Carpi, F. (eds) Electromechanically Active Polymers. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31530-0_25

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