Crystalline ice grown on the surface of the ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride) (70%) and trifluoroethylene (30%).
Water ice is observed to order at the copolymer ferroelectric poly(vinylidene difluoride-trifluoroethylene) surface. The successful growth of crystalline thin films of water on these polymer surfaces implicates water to polymer dipole interactions. These ice thin films are sufficiently ordered for experimental identification of the wave vector dependence in the electronic band structure of hexagonal ice. The significant band dispersion, of about 1 eV, suggests strong overlap of molecular orbitals between adjacent water molecules in the ice film. The presence of dipole interactions with adsorbate water is consistent with the possibility of water acting as a spectator to surface ferroelectric transitions in this system.
Rosa
Luis G
LG
Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Center for Materials Research and Analysis, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0111, USA.
Xiao
Jie
J
Losovyj
Yaroslav B
YB
Gao
Yi
Y
Yakovkin
Ivan N
IN
Zeng
Xiao C
XC
Dowben
Peter A
PA