Theory of Ferroelectric Random Copolymers

本研究的目的是建立铁电无规共聚物相变的统计力学理论，并将该理论应用于偏氟乙烯与三氟乙烯的共聚物。这种材料特别令人感兴趣，因为它在铁电相和准电相之间表现出可逆的转变。所采用的方法包括已成功用于研究铁电均聚物的传递积分方法和施密特泛函方程方法的结合。后一种技术最初是为了处理金属合金中的电子态密度而开发的，但现在显示出作为研究聚合物的有力工具的前景。所提出的研究的意义在于，相对较少的详细工作已经进行了理论的结晶聚合物表现出构象和构型紊乱。这一研究项目的成功成果将为广泛的共聚材料的理论研究打开大门。

The goal of this research is to develop a statistical-mechanical theory of phase transitions in ferroelectric random copolymers, and to apply this theory to the copolymer of vinylidene fluoride with trifluoroethylene. This material is of particular interest because it exhibits a reversible transition between ferroelectric and paraelectric phases. The methods to be employed involve the combination of the transfer-integral approach that has been successfully used to study ferroelectric homopolymers and the Schmidt functional-equation method. This latter technique was originally developed to treat the electronic density of states in metallic alloys, but now shows promise as a powerful tool in the study of polymers. The significance of the proposed research lies in the fact that comparatively little detailed work has previously been performed on the theory of crystalline polymers exhibiting both conformational and configurational disorder. A successful outcome of this research project would open the door to the theoretical study of a wide range of copolymeric materials.