Oxygen-defective electrostrictors for soft electromechanics.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39213346.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adq3444 and PMC identifier 11364099.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Electromechanical metal oxides, such as piezoceramics, are often incompatible with soft polymers due to their crystallinity requirements, leading to high processing temperatures. This study explores the potential of ceria-based thin films as electromechanical actuators for flexible electronics. Oxygen-deficient fluorites, like cerium oxide, are centrosymmetric nonpiezoelectric crystalline metal oxides that demonstrate giant electrostriction. These films, deposited at low temperatures, integrate seamlessly with various soft substrates like polyimide and PET. Ceria thin films exhibit remarkable electrostriction (<i>M</i><sub>33</sub> > 10<sup>-16</sup> m<sup>2</sup> V<sup>-2</sup>) and inverse pseudo-piezo coefficients (<i>e</i><sub>33</sub> > 500 pmV<sup>-1</sup>), enabling large displacements in soft electromechanical systems. Our study explores resonant and off-resonant configurations in the low-frequency regime (<1 kHz), demonstrating versatility for three-dimensional and transparent electronics. This work advances the understanding of oxygen-defective metal oxide electromechanical properties and paves the way for developing versatile and efficient electromechanical systems for applications in biomedical devices, optical devices, and beyond.