ABSTRACT
The chain conformation of poly(trifluoroethylene) (PTrFE) crystal was first reported by Lando et al. to be a 3/1 helix [1]. Tashiro et al. have studied the structure and ferroelectric transitions of vinylidene fluoride (VDF) and trifluoroethylene (TrFE) co-polymers and concluded that the crystal structure of PTrFE is the same as the cooled phase which has the all-trans conformation with skew bonds [2). The latter structural model permits the formation of the spontaneous polarization in TrFE. Lovinger et al. carried out X-ray measurements on PTrFE and proposed the conformation of an irregular succession TG, TO, and IT from the lattice spacing parallel to the carbon chain [3].
