Ferroelectric polymers made more versatile
(PHYSorg.com Chemistry)

The ferroelectric polymer PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) has interesting properties and could be used to store information or energy. One of the main drawbacks of PVDF is that extra functional groups added to improve certain properties also interfere with its ferroelectricity. To solve this, scientists from the University of Groningen have created block copolymers from PVDF that leave its ferroelectricity intact, but allow them to tune its characteristics. They wanted not only to study how this polymer works, but also to widen its use to include flexible organic electronics. The results were published in the journal Nature Communications on 6 February.