DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln - Mengjun Bai, Xingzhong Li, and Stephen Ducharme: Electron diffraction study of the structure of vinylidene fluoride

Research Papers in Physics and Astronomy

Stephen Ducharme Publications

Title

Electron diffraction study of the structure of vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene copolymer nanocrystals

Authors

Mengjun Bai, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Xingzhong Li, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Stephen Ducharme, University of Nebraska

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

April 2007

Comments

Published in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 19 (2007), 196211 (8 pp); doi:10.1088/0953- 8984/19/19/196211 Online at http://stacks.iop.org/JPhysCM/19/196211 Copyright © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd. Used by permission.

Abstract

The structures of nanocrystals consisting of 70% vinylidene fluoride and 30% trifluoroethylene made by Langmuir–Blodgett deposition were studied using transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. Highly ordered nanocrystals with sizes ranging from 100 nm to 4 μm were grown on Langmuir– Blodgett films at a deposition surface pressure of 20 mN m^-1. Electron diffraction patterns from individual crystals allowed us to determine the crystal symmetry and lattice parameters. A monoclinic phase had been found with the lattice parameters a = 9.06 ± 0.03 Å, b = 5.18 ± 0.02 Å, c = 20.40 ± 0.05 Å, α = 90° ± 0.3°, β = 93° ± 0.2°, γ = 90° ± 0.2°, consistent with the monoclinic space group C₂³.