Giant flexoelectricity in polyvinylidene fluoride films

Recent studies have shown that giant flexoelectricity may exist in certain elastomers with bent-core molecular structures, which contradicts the previous theoretical estimation that the flexoelectric coupling is small in those materials. In this Letter, we report an analogous phenomenon, i.e., the giant direct flexoelectric effect, observed in a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film. Our experimental studies indicate that such an enhanced flexoelectric effect might be induced by the interaction between the energy couplings of the apolar and the polar molecular structures of the polymer film under elastic deformation. ► Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film with not fully crystallized α- and β-phases. ► Flexoelectric measurement. ► Giant direct flexoelectric effect in PVDF.