Huge electrocaloric effect in Langmuir–Blodgett ferroelectric polymer thin films

In this work, we studied polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based ferroelectric copolymer and terpolymer films grown, by the Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) technique, on polyimide substrates. The LB technique is believed to improve the film quality, i.e. to confer better crystallinity and less parasitic amorphous phase. As a consequence, a reversible adiabatic temperature change Δ T up to 21 K is demonstrated. The large electrocaloric effects of LB films close to room temperature suggest the potential for applying LB films in cooling systems.