Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Qingqing Li, Jinghua Zhao, Baosheng He, Zhijun Hu
Summary: PVDF, a ferroelectric polymer with the polar beta-phase, has the highest dipolar moment and piezoelectric response. The development of flexible electronics highly requires effective methods for producing beta-PVDF.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Liwei Zhang, Shuangfeng Li, Zhiwen Zhu, Guanchun Rui, Bin Du, Dazhu Chen, Yan-Fei Huang, Lei Zhu
Summary: Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-based polymers have great potential for flexible and wearable electronics, but exhibit low piezoelectric coefficients. The improvement of PVDF's piezoelectricity involves modulating its semicrystalline structures, with debates on the primary contributor. Current methods for enhancing PVDF's piezoelectricity can be categorized as modulations of the amorphous phase, crystalline region, and crystalline-amorphous interface. This article discusses the principles, measurements, and strategies to improve PVDF's piezoelectric properties, emphasizing the crucial role of the oriented amorphous fraction at the crystalline-amorphous interface. Future developments in high-performance piezoelectric polymers are also discussed.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Jia-Yi Ren, Qing-Feng Ouyang, Guo-Qi Ma, Yue Li, Jun Lei, Hua-Dong Huang, Li-Chuan Jia, Hao Lin, Gan-Ji Zhong, Zhong-Ming Li
Summary: This study proposes an efficient method to enhance the dielectric and ferroelectric properties of PVDF films through thermal treatment combined with pressure field. The appropriate pressure and temperature fields promote the alignment and phase transformation of PVDF films, resulting in films with high orientation and perfect beta-crystallites. These films exhibit enhanced dielectric and ferroelectric properties.
Article
Polymer Science
Zhubing Han, Hancheng Qin, Xin Chen, Wenhan Xu, Yang Liu, J. Bernholc, Qing Wang
Summary: The incorporation of comonomers in PVDF-based ferroelectric polymers has been widely used to modify their structures and properties. Previous studies have shown that large-sized comonomers can induce relaxor ferroelectricity, but this study demonstrates that a small-sized comonomer can preferentially adopt a polar all-trans conformation, resulting in terpolymers with robust ferroelectricity and enhanced transition temperature and coercive field. This work systematically investigates the effects of comonomer size on the microstructures and properties of ferroelectric polymers.
Article
Polymer Science
Thulasinath Raman Venkatesan, David Smykalla, Bernd Ploss, Michael Wuebbenhorst, Reimund Gerhard
Summary: The effects of thermal processing on the micro- and nanostructural features and relaxor-ferroelectric properties of a P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) terpolymer were investigated. Annealing reduces the Curie transition temperature and shifts the ferroelectric phase fraction, leading to relaxor-ferroelectric behavior. Changes in transition temperatures are related to alterations in hysteresis curves.
Article
Polymer Science
Edgar Gutierrez-Fernandez, Jose Sena-Fernandez, Esther Rebollar, Tiberio A. Ezquerra, Francisco J. Hermoso-Pinilla, Mikel Sanz, Oscar Galvez, Aurora Nogales
Summary: Ferroelectric polymer nanoparticles of PVDF were prepared using dialysis nano-precipitation. The nanoparticles showed piezoelectric response as observed by PFM. The ferroelectric behavior was attributed to the presence of ferroelectrically active crystalline phases of PVDF in the nanoparticles (mainly beta and gamma phases) as demonstrated by DSC, FTIR, and XRD. The combination of the preparation method and temperature treatment can tune the ferroelectric properties of PVDF homopolymer nanoparticles.
Review
Physics, Applied
Yang Liu, Xin Chen, Zhubing Han, Huamin Zhou, Qing Wang
Summary: Defect engineering is a crucial strategy for designing high-performance ferroelectric polymers, which can tune various physical properties and structure-performance relationships. This Review summarizes the influence of defects induced by different monomers on the physical properties and structure of ferroelectric polymers, and discusses the effects of defect modification on dielectric, ferroelectric, electromechanical, and electrocaloric properties.
APPLIED PHYSICS REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Nicolas Maria, Jon Maiz, Daniel E. Martinez-Tong, Angel Alegria, Fatimah Algarni, George Zapzas, Nikos Hadjichristidis, Alejandro J. Mueller
Summary: By comparing the crystallization and morphology of two linear diblock copolymers and blends, it was found that the diblock copolymers are miscible in the melt state while the blends are immiscible. The crystallization of PVDF is strongly influenced by its environment, with different polymorphic compositions induced by cooling rate or crystallization temperature.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Chen Huang, Lingyu Zhang, Song Liu, Yao Wang, Nu Wang, Yuan Deng
Summary: Encapsulating ferroelectric ceramic nanofillers into polymer matrix with various architectures has been proven effective for ultrahigh energy storage density. Coaxial electrospinning technique can control polarization gradient distribution, leading to significant enhancement in energy storage density.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Liang Gao, Ben-Lin Hu, Linping Wang, Jinwei Cao, Ri He, Fengyuan Zhang, Zhiming Wang, Wuhong Xue, Huali Yang, Run-Wei Li
Summary: In this study, we developed intrinsically elastic ferroelectrics by combining the ferroelectric response and elastic resilience into one material through slight cross-linking of plastic ferroelectric polymers. This elastic ferroelectric exhibits a stable ferroelectric response under mechanical deformation up to 70% strain and has potential applications in wearable electronics, such as elastic ferroelectric sensors, information storage, and energy transduction.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Jiale Fang, Chengqi Chen, Hongxing Qi, Jie Zhang, Xiaoxuan Hou, Likun Pan, Xianghui Wang
Summary: Developing flexible electromagnetic interference (EMI SE) shielding materials is crucial for protecting humans from harmful radiation. We designed and fabricated a flexible multilayer structure of PVDF/GNP-PVDF composite film, which exhibited high EMI SE performance (averaging 69.7 dB in X-band), excellent flexibility, and stability (98.85% retention after bending 1000 cycles at 60 degrees). The theoretical study indicates that the multiple reflection and absorption of electromagnetic waves between layers contribute to the high EMI SE performance of the PVDF/GNP-PVDF multilayer film.
ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Tongguang Zhu, Hang Zhao, Na Zhang, Chuying Zhang, Lei Yin, Zhi-Min Dang, Jinbo Bai
Summary: Dielectric capacitors have ultrahigh power density but low energy storage density, limiting their practical applications. By self-assembling chitosan and montmorillonite into a sandwich 2D structure, an ultrahigh energy storage density of 32.5 J cm(-3) with a high efficiency of 64% is achieved at a low cost. Electric potential wells in the sandwich nanosheets hinder the acceleration of internal charges and the growth of electrical trees. This provides a novel paradigm for exploring ultrahigh energy storage density capacitors economically.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Zhaozhe Chu, Ruijun Zhao, Bin Wang, Long Liu, Zhe Ma, Yuesheng Li
Summary: The presence of hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate (TBAHS) ions during the crystallization of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-ion composites led to different effects, with TBAHS ions accelerating the formation of the polar γ-phase and CTAB ions enhancing the crystallinity of the nonpolar α-phase. Additionally, flow induced the formation of the β-phase, which exhibited piezo/ferroelectric properties, and the presence of ions increased the amount of this β-phase. Moreover, both CTAB and TBAHS ions induced the crystallization of the γ-phase during the isothermal process at a high temperature, suppressing the α-phase in neat PVDF.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Dong Je Han, Seonwoo Kim, Hyeon Jun Heo, Chaewon Jin, Jin-young Kim, Hongsoo Choi, In Jun Park, Hong Suk Kang, Sang Goo Lee, Jong-Chan Lee, Eun-Ho Sohn
Summary: Antimicrobial PVDF-based polymers were prepared by grafting quaternary ammonium or quaternary pyridinium monomers to effectively kill bacteria and yeast. Adding these polymers to PVDF films through blending method enhanced both mechanical properties and antimicrobial performances, while maintaining biocompatibility.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Jose P. B. Silva, Ruben Alcala, Uygar E. Avci, Nick Barrett, Laura Begon-Lours, Mattias Borg, Seungyong Byun, Sou-Chi Chang, Sang-Wook Cheong, Duk-Hyun Choe, Jean Coignus, Veeresh Deshpande, Athanasios Dimoulas, Catherine Dubourdieu, Ignasi Fina, Hiroshi Funakubo, Laurent Grenouillet, Alexei Gruverman, Jinseong Heo, Michael Hoffmann, H. Alex Hsain, Fei-Ting Huang, Cheol Seong Hwang, Jorge Iniguez, Jacob L. Jones, Ilya V. Karpov, Alfred Kersch, Taegyu Kwon, Suzanne Lancaster, Maximilian Lederer, Younghwan Lee, Patrick D. Lomenzo, Lane W. Martin, Simon Martin, Shinji Migita, Thomas Mikolajick, Beatriz Noheda, Min Hyuk Park, Karin M. Rabe, Sayeef Salahuddin, Florencio Sanchez, Konrad Seidel, Takao Shimizu, Takahisa Shiraishi, Stefan Slesazeck, Akira Toriumi, Hiroshi Uchida, Bertrand Vilquin, Xianghan Xu, Kun Hee Ye, Uwe Schroeder
Summary: Ferroelectric hafnium and zirconium oxides have shown significant progress in ultralow-power electronic systems, but technical limitations still hinder their application. This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state, challenges, and prospects for the development of these materials, with the collaboration of experts from different fields.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuqi Chen, Jianfeng Qian, Jinyao Yu, Mengfan Guo, Qinghua Zhang, Jianyong Jiang, Zhonghui Shen, Long-Qing Chen, Yang Shen
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mengfan Guo, Changqing Guo, Jian Han, Shulin Chen, Shan He, Tongxiang Tang, Qian Li, Joseph Strzalka, Jing Ma, Di Yi, Ke Wang, Ben Xu, Peng Gao, Houbing Huang, Long-Qing Chen, Shujun Zhang, Yuan-Hua Lin, Ce-Wen Nan, Yang Shen
Summary: The study discovered concentric topological structure and anticoupled chiral domains in ferroelectric polymer, which can absorb polarized far-infrared waves and manipulate terahertz waves. The findings provide new insights for design principles of flexible ferroic materials and multi-stimuli conversions in flexible electronics.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zhong-Hui Shen, Zhi-Wei Bao, Xiao-Xing Cheng, Bao-Wen Li, Han-Xing Liu, Yang Shen, Long-Qing Chen, Xiao-Guang Li, Ce-Wen Nan
Summary: This study developed an integrated phase-field model to investigate the performance of polymer nanocomposites, revealing that parallel perovskite nanosheets can significantly improve breakdown strength, leading to the preparation of polymer nanocomposites with excellent energy storage capabilities.
NPJ COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Youjun Fan, Zhonghui Shen, Xinchen Zhou, Zhenkang Dan, Le Zhou, Weibin Ren, Tongxiang Tang, Shanyong Bao, Cewen Nan, Yang Shen
Summary: Flexible strain sensors are essential for various potential intelligent applications. A novel strategy of designing and optimizing a strain sensor by developing topological structure modulated high dielectric elastic nanocomposite is demonstrated, which shows ultrahigh dielectric permittivity and excellent comprehensive electromechanical performance. The strain sensor achieved high signal-to-noise ratio, high positive capacitance response sensitivity, and wide linear range, making it suitable for integrated microsensor arrays for detecting local strain and motion states.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2022)
Article
Physics, Applied
Ting Zhou, Le Zhou, Yi-Xuan Liu, Jing-Tong Lu, Shan He, Wei Li, Geng Li, Fang-Zhou Yao, Yang Shen, Ke Wang
Summary: Phase separation of polymer blends can help design high-performance materials with specific mechanical and dielectric properties. Incorporating different poly(methacrylic ester)s in the poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) matrix improves the performance of the film materials, with the blended films containing poly(isobutyl methacrylate) showing enhanced Young's modulus and elongation. The excellent plasticity is attributed to the interfacial regions between the two phases. Furthermore, phase separation design leads to higher Weibull breakdown strength and better energy storage density.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
(2022)
Correction
Physics, Applied
Ting Zhou, Le Zhou, Yi-Xuan Liu, Jing-Tong Lu, Shan He, Wei Li, Geng Li, Fang-Zhou Yao, Yang Shen, Ke Wang
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuanfeng Liu, Le Zhou, Yongzheng Wen, Yang Shen, Jingbo Sun, Ji Zhou
Summary: In this work, a cylindrical vector optical vortex beam generation is achieved by utilizing the naturally existing circular anisotropy in a spherulite formed by molecular self-assembly. This strategy shows promising opportunities for the applications of spherulites in the generation of structured lights and modulations of both the polarization and the angular momentum.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Binzhou Sun, Penghao Hu, Xumin Ji, Mingzhi Fan, Le Zhou, Mengfan Guo, Shan He, Yang Shen
Summary: In this study, PEI-based nanocomposites containing SiO2 nanoparticles were fabricated by solution casting, showing improved electrical conductivity and breakdown strength, especially at high temperatures. The PEI/SiO2-NPs nanocomposite exhibited superior dielectric energy storage performance under high temperature conditions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Weibin Ren, Minzheng Yang, Le Zhou, Youjun Fan, Shan He, Jiayu Pan, Tongxiang Tang, Yao Xiao, Ce-Wen Nan, Yang Shen
Summary: To meet the demand for miniaturized electronic devices and power systems under harsh environments, ultrasonic spray-coating (USC) can be used to produce scalable high-quality ultrathin high-temperature dielectric films. These films have high glass transition temperature and large bandgap, enabling them to provide high discharge energy density at high temperatures.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Minzheng Yang, Weibin Ren, Mengfan Guo, Yang Shen
Summary: Polymer dielectrics have great potential for electrostatic capacitors under extreme conditions, and recent advancements have been made in improving their energy density. This article provides an overview of the latest progress in linear polymers and their composites for high-energy-density electrostatic capacitors at elevated temperatures, discussing key factors and couplings that determine energy storage performance.
Review
Physics, Applied
Le Zhou, Shuo Zhao, Ping Xie, Xiang Miao, Sijie Liu, Nannan Sun, Mengfan Guo, Zongqi Xu, Tingjun Zhong, Yang Shen
Summary: With the increasing demand for energy, efficient and stable energy storage has become an urgent research topic. Polymer dielectrics have emerged as ideal materials for electrostatic capacitors due to their advantages of light weight, easy fabrication, low cost, and high breakdown strength. However, the limitations of current polymer dielectrics in terms of energy density, breakdown field intensity, charge and discharge efficiency, and dielectric loss restrict the development of compact and reliable electronic power technology. This review summarizes and compares various material systems, such as polymer nanocomposites and polymer/small molecule composites, and provides suggestions for future research.
APPLIED PHYSICS REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Mengfan Guo, Erxiang Xu, Shan He, Wei Li, Qian Li, Jing Ma, Yuan-Hua Lin, Ce-Wen Nan, Yang Shen
Summary: This study demonstrates how to manipulate polar topological textures by controlling thermal conditions, validates the existence of toroidal order in polymers, and reveals the phenomenon of chirality reversal.