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

Authors

• Mengjun Bai, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Xingzhong Li, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
• Stephen Ducharme, University of NebraskaFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

4-19-2007

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.