Results of the elastic ferroelectric material is posted by Science on August 3, 2023.
Ferroelectrics, integral components of the modern world that are commonly used in our every-day electronic devices, are limited by their inelasticity for wearable usage. However, a group of Chinese scientists has been able to make ferroelectric material highly elastic, as an article in the journal Science revealed on Thursday.
Researchers from the Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), including Hu Benlin and Li Runwei, proposed a "slight crosslinking" method that imparts elastic recovery to ferroelectric materials.
Researchers from the Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. /CMG
Ferroelectric materials are very useful for applications such as data storage and processing, sensing, energy conversion and optoelectronics, making them highly desirable in mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices for everyday use. However, the material's intrinsic inelasticity makes it hard to use in intelligent wearable devices.
The team has developed intrinsically elastic ferroelectrics by combining ferroelectric response and elastic resilience into one material through slight cross-linking of plastic ferroelectric polymers. The precise, slight cross-linking can realize the complex balance between crystallinity and resilience.
Lab results of the material's stable ferroelectric response under mechanical deformation up to 70 percent strain. /CMG
Such elastic ferroelectrics exhibit a stable ferroelectric response under mechanical deformation up to 70 percent strain.
This elastic ferroelectric exerts potential in applications related to wearable electronics, such as elastic ferroelectric sensors, information storage and energy transduction, according to the article.