Eur. Phys. J. B 84, 25-28 (2011)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2011-20674-y

Regular Article

Effect of misfit strain on the electrocaloric effect of P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer thin films

¹ Center for Low-Dimensional Materials, Micro-Nano Devices and System, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, P.R. China
² School of Material Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, P.R. China
³ Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Solar Cell Materials and Technology, Changzhou 213164, P.R. China
⁴ Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, P.R. China

^a e-mail: qiujianhua81@yahoo.com.cn

Received: 17 August 2011
Received in final form: 9 September 2011
Published online: 26 October 2011

Abstract

Based on the phenomenological Landau-Devonshire theory, we investigate the effect of misfit strain on the electrocaloric effect of P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer thin films. Theoretical analysis indicates that the compressive misfit strain reduces the working temperature to a great extent where the electrocaloric effect is maximized, which is different from the result of the conventional ferroelectric thin films, such as BaTiO₃. Although the compressive or tensile misfit strain does not change the maximum of the electrocaloric coefficient, the compressive misfit strain decreases the maximum of the adiabatic temperature change and the tensile misfit strain results in the opposite effect. Consequently, control of the misfit strain provides potential means to vary the working temperature for use in cooling systems.