STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF SEMICRYSTALLINE POLYMERS VIA HIGH-FREQUENCY ACOUSTIC AND X-RAY MEASUREMENTS .1. FERROELECTRIC P(VDF/TRFE) COPOLYMER

Acoustic, opto-acoustic, and x-ray investigations have been performed in order to study the influence of irradiation, electrical poling, and mechanical orientation on the morphology of ferroelectric random copolymers of vinylidene fluoride and trifluorethylene { P[VDF/TrFE] (70/30) }. The influences of these different treatments on the molecular orientation distribution of the amorphous and crystalline phases are discussed, as well as their influences on the crystallinity of the material. The elastic stiffness and the related viscosity tensors of P[VDF/TrFE] (70/30), the elastic stiffness modulus of the amorphous matrix, and the hierarchy of stiffness constants of the crystalline state have been determined.