Dependence of Ferroelectric Response of P(VDF‐TrFE) Films on Preparation Process and Post‐Stretching

ABSTRACT Poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF‐TrFE)) can readily form a ferroelectric phase and display distinctive polarization switching in electric fields. It is thus promising for advanced flexible electronics, e.g., bio‐inspired actuators and wearable sensors, highlighting its substantial research value. The impact of processing conditions on the multi‐level structures and polarization switching performance of them remains yet inadequately elucidated. In this paper, P(VDF‐TrFE) films were fabricated via blade‐coating and hot‐pressing methods, respectively. Their structures and ferroelectric properties before and after post‐stretching were systematically investigated. The hot‐pressed films exhibit superior ferroelectric properties of advantageous polarization response over 10.0 µC/cm 2 , lower coercive field ( E c ), and notably rapid switching dynamics characterized by almost halved activation field ( δ ) owing to higher crystallinity ( X c ) and less gauche defects in polar domains. On the other hand, stretching improves molecular orientation, therefore enhancing the Curie temperature ( T Curie ) and switching dynamics in both films, but affects polarization response oppositely. The polarization response increases by 25 % in the blade‐coated films due to a reduction of gauche defects, while it weakens in the hot‐pressed films due to a critical 10 % decline in X c . This work delineates the pathway for controlling the switching characteristics and provides fundamental theoretical guidance for developing high performance P(VDF‐TrFE) films.