Huge electrocaloric effect in Langmuir-Blodgett ferroelectric polymer thin films

International audienceIn this work, we studied polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based ferroelectric copolymer and terpolymer films grown, by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, on polyimide substrates. The LB technique is believed to improve the film quality, i.e. to confer better crystallinity and less parasitic amorphous phase. As a consequence, a reversible adiabatic temperature change Delta T up to 21K is demonstrated. The large electrocaloric effects of LB films close to room temperature suggest the potential for applying LB films in cooling systems