A P(VDF-TrFE)/AlN nanocomposite with high filler content: Towards a “hard ferroelectric soft material” with enhanced properties for additive printing

In recent work, we have successfully employed Poly (vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] as an additively printed functional layer embedded in organic coatings on metallic substrates for various piezo- and pyroelectric sensing applications. In practice, however, printed functional layers typically exhibit less favorable physical properties compared to their ideal bulk values. Here, we present a strategy to enhance the ferroelectric performance of a printable composite formulation by incorporating ceramic aluminum nitride (AlN) nanoparticles at high fraction into the hosting P(VDF-TrFE) matrix. Although AlN exhibits comparatively modest piezoelectric properties on its own, its inclusion yields a composite whose effectively usable polarization substantially exceeds that of the baseline P(VDF-TrFE) formulation used so far. By analogy to “hard-magnetic soft materials” (soft polymers with hard magnetic fillers), the resulting nanocomposite may be viewed as a “hard ferroelectric soft material” that combines mechanical compliance and ease of processing with significantly improved ferroelectric functionality for additive manufacturing.