Field-activated electroactive polymers (FEAPs) are a class of electroactive polymers that are insulating and exhibit coulombic interaction with and dipole formation in response to external electric signals. There are many polarization mechanisms in insulating polymers, from the molecular to the mesoscopic and even the macroscopic level, which couple strongly with mechanical deformation and can be used to create polymer actuators and sensors. FEAPs feature fast response speed limited by the polymer dielectric and elastic relaxation time, a very large strain level (to more than 100% strain), high electromechanical efficiency, the ability to operate down to micro/nanoelectromechanical devices, and a highly reproducible strain response under electric fields. One challenge in FEAP actuators and electromechanical devices is reducing the operation voltage to below 100 V or even 10 V while achieving an electromechanical conversion efficiency comparable with that of inorganic electroactive materials.

By using conventional solution casting method, a flexible ceramic [CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO)]-Polymer [P(VDF-TrFE)] composite has been fabricated. The CCTO ceramic powders with a relative uniform size were prepared by traditional powder processing method. The dielectric properties of these films with different CCTO fractions were determined. The process was optimized to achieve high dielectric constant. A dielectric constant about 510 at room temperature and 1240 at 95 °C at 1 kHz for 6 layer hot compression was obtained.

P(VDF-CTFE) based nanocomposites were prepared by mixing the polymer with carbon nanotube (CNT) or C60 using solution cast method. The volume fraction of the CNT or C60 was from 0.1 % to 1.0%. The influence of CNT and C60 on the crystallization behavior of P(VDF-CTFE) was determined using XRD and DSC as well as the P-E loop. It is found that the CNT or C60 enhances the β-phase and the crystallinity. The crystallinity process in the composites was studied using DSC.