Ferroelastic-switching-driven colossal shear strain and piezoelectricity in a hybrid ferroelectric

TL;DR

This paper reports a hybrid ferroelectric material exhibiting unprecedented shear strains up to 21.5%, driven by ferroelastic switching, with potential applications in high-performance actuators and sensors.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hybrid ferroelectric with giant shear strain and piezoelectricity enabled by inorganic bond switching and organic moiety confinement.

Findings

Achieved shear strain of 21.5% in a hybrid ferroelectric.

Demonstrated giant shear piezoelectric coefficient (~4800 pm/V).

Strain and piezoelectricity are tunable via halogen substitution.

Abstract

Materials that can produce large controllable strains are widely used in shape memory devices, actuators and sensors. Great efforts have been made to improve the strain outputs of various material systems. Among them, ferroelastic transitions underpin giant reversible strains in electrically-driven ferro/piezoelectrics and thermally- or magneticallydriven shape memory alloys. However, large-strain ferroelastic switching in conventional ferroelectrics is very challenging while magnetic and thermal controls are not desirable for applications. Here, we demonstrate an unprecedentedly large shear strain up to 21.5 % in a hybrid ferroelectric, C6H5N(CH3)3CdCl3. The strain response is about two orders of magnitude higher than those of top-performing conventional ferroelectric polymers and oxides. It is achieved via inorganic bond switching and facilitated by the structural confinement of the large organic moieties, which prevents the undesired 180-degree polarization switching. Furthermore, Br substitution can effectively soften the bonds and result in giant shear piezoelectric coefficient (d35 ~ 4800 pm/V) in Br-rich end of the solid solution, C6H5N(CH3)3CdBr3xCl3(1-x). The superior electromechanical properties of the compounds promise their potential in lightweight and high energy density devices, and the strategy described here should inspire the development of next-generation piezoelectrics and electroactive materials based on hybrid ferroelectrics.