An organic-inorganic perovskite ferroelectric with large piezoelectric response.

You, Yu-Meng; Liao, Wei-Qiang; Zhao, Dewei; Ye, Heng-Yun; Zhang, Yi; Zhou, Qionghua; Niu, Xianghong; Wang, Jinlan et al. · Science · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Molecular piezoelectrics are highly desirable for their easy and environment-friendly processing, light weight, low processing temperature, and mechanical flexibility. However, although 136 years have passed since the discovery in 1880 of the piezoelectric effect, molecular piezoelectrics with a piezoelectric coefficient <i>d</i><sub>33</sub> comparable with piezoceramics such as barium titanate (BTO; ~190 picocoulombs per newton) have not been found. We show that trimethylchloromethyl ammonium trichloromanganese(II), an organic-inorganic perovskite ferroelectric crystal processed from aqueous solution, has a large <i>d</i><sub>33</sub> of 185 picocoulombs per newton and a high phase-transition temperature of 406 kelvin (K) (16 K above that of BTO). This makes it a competitive candidate for medical, micromechanical, and biomechanical applications.