Impact of ionic liquid's self-assembly on the crystallization behavior of poly (vinylidene fluoride)

Abstract Ionic liquids (IL) are known to act as plasticizer. This work is first report to best of our knowledge, of an amphiphilic ionic liquids (IL), 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide [C 16 mim][Br] acting not only as a plasticizer but also as a nucleating agent during crystallization of poly (vinylidene fluoride). With FTIR-ATR, XRD, DSC, and SEM, It is observed that plasticizing and nucleating role of mentioned IL is due to its self-assembling property in fluoropolymer matrix. At 1% loading of [C 16 mim][Br] in PVDF matrix, it speeds up the crystallization of PVDF accompanied by formation of finger like structure, while at (10%) loading, the formation of micellar structure promote plasticization and PVDF crystallizes at low temperature. Fortunately, in both cases polarized (β/γ) crystal formation is favored.