Molecular Structure Engineering of PVDF-Based Polymers for High-Performance Electroactive Materials

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-based polymers have been extensively investigated as electroactive materials owing to their excellent dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties. Conventionally, enhancement of their electrical performance requires post-treatment processes such as electrical poling or electrospinning. In this study, a backbone modification strategy was employed to promote intrinsic β-phase formation without additional post-processing. The unsaturated C-C part effectively enhanced dipolar ordering within the polymer chains, leading to a remarkable improvement in dielectric properties. Consequently, the modified PVDF-based polymer exhibited a dielectric constant comparable to that of high-permittivity P(VDF-CFE)-based polymers while maintaining the inherent advantages of the PVDF backbone. These findings demonstrate that inducing functional groups in PVDF backbone provides an effective route for simultaneously improving dielectric and piezoelectric performance, offering significant potential for next-generation electroactive materials in flexible electronic devices, sensors, actuators, and energy harvesting applications.