Theory of ferroelectric-paraelectric transitions in VF2/F4E random copolymers

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Abstract
The problem of calculating the free energy of a ferroelectric random copolymer is discussed in terms of a mean field model. The intrachain interactions are treated in detail, but the interchain interactions are approximated as a function only of the torsional angle at a chain segment and of an order parameter determined by averaging over the conformations of all chains. This formalism is applied to a simple model of the random copolymer of vinylidene fluoride and tetrafluoroethylene. The results of this calculation are combined with the known Curie temperatures of these copolymers to determine the magnitude of the effective interchain interaction over a range of copolymer compositions.