Piezoelectric effect of cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose

The piezoelectricity of cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose was investigated. Elastic, piezoelectric, and dielectric relaxations were observed at -80 degrees to -60 degrees C and 0 degrees to 20 degrees C at a frequency of 10 Hz. The activation energy is about 9-15 kcal/mol in the low temperature region and about 30-45 kcal/mol at room temperature. These relaxations in the low temperature region may be caused by the motion of the cyanoethyl group and those at room temperature mostly by the motions of the main chain. Cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose has a high piezoelectric strain constant (d(25)), which is the largest value among the cellulose derivatives and is almost the same as the value for polyvinylidene fluoride. The electromechanical coupling factor for cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose was small.