Field‐induced dipole reorientation and piezoelectricity in heavily plasticized nylon 11 films

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Abstract
Nylon 11 films with very low initial crystallinity were made by dissolving the nylon 11 in 2‐ethyl‐1,3‐hexanediol at 150°C. Films were cast from the solution and excessive plasticizer was removed in a vacuum oven. Films were then melt pressed and quenched to yield heavily plasticized nylon 11 films containing ca. 30% by weight of the plasticizer. These films were poled under vacuum to allow the plasticizer to evaporate in the presence of an electric field. A high piezoelectric response (d31 = 7.1 pC/N) was observed for the films subjected to the maximum electric field (Ep = 350 kV/cm) while the sample contained a large fraction of plasticizer. Significant development of crystallinity was observed without apparent indication of orientation of the crystallites. These studies suggest that the observed piezoelectric response originates primarily from oriented hydrogen bonds in the amorphous regions of nylon 11.