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Polymers with electroactive properties provide numerous opportunities for applications in domains such as biomedicine or energy generation owing to their flexibility, good mechanical acoustic impedance and biocompatibility compared to ceramic materials. Among this class of polymers, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is a semi-crystalline polymer with unique piezo-, pyro- and ferroelectric properties allowing its use for various development in sensors, actuators and energy harvester systems. Furthermore, the incorporation of nanofillers is an interesting way to strongly enhance the functional properties of such fluoropolymers. In this context, advanced Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) modes, such as the Piezoresponse (PFM), are fully suitable for probing the response of both the nanometric inclusions and the polymer matrix. This is a crucial step for optimizing macroscopic performance of devices based on such piezocomposites, while keeping in mind that the investigation of electroactive behavior in soft materials remains gentle at such nanoscale.
Here, an overview of our recent results related to the AFM investigation of PVDF-based composites will be proposed, with a particular focus on understanding the structure-property relationships in these systems.

Presented By : 
Dr. Anthony Ferri, University of Artois, France

Anthony Ferri received his Ph.D degree in Materials Sciences from University of Artois in 2008 under the supervision of Prof. R. Desfeux. He studied the local electrical properties of oxide ferroelectric thin films by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). As a post-doctoral position, he then spent one year (2008-2009) at the “Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials” (University of Groningen, The Netherlands) under the supervision of Profs. T. Palstra and B. Noheda. He synthesized BiFeO3 multiferroic thin films and he investigated both the structural and physical properties of these compounds. In 2009, he was promoted “Maître de Conférences” (Associate Professor) at the University of Artois and joined the UCCS lab. His research activities are mainly related to the local probing of functional properties (piezo-/ferroelectricity) of oxides, polymers and nanocomposites systems by means of the AFM technique (PFM, c-AFM).