Mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystal with plasticity optimized by fluorination

Abstract The ability of plastic deformation exerts in bulk crystals would offer great promise for ferroelectrics to achieve emerging and exciting applications. However, conventional ferroelectric crystals generally suffer from inherent brittleness and are easy to fracture. Here, by implementing fluo...

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Main Authors: Pei-Zhi Huang, Zunqi Liu, Lou-Kai Ye, Hao-Fei Ni, Jia-Qi Luo, Gele Teri, Qiang-Qiang Jia, Bo Zhuang, Chang-Feng Wang, Zhi-Xu Zhang, Yi Zhang, Da-Wei Fu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58416-y
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author Pei-Zhi Huang
Zunqi Liu
Lou-Kai Ye
Hao-Fei Ni
Jia-Qi Luo
Gele Teri
Qiang-Qiang Jia
Bo Zhuang
Chang-Feng Wang
Zhi-Xu Zhang
Yi Zhang
Da-Wei Fu
author_facet Pei-Zhi Huang
Zunqi Liu
Lou-Kai Ye
Hao-Fei Ni
Jia-Qi Luo
Gele Teri
Qiang-Qiang Jia
Bo Zhuang
Chang-Feng Wang
Zhi-Xu Zhang
Yi Zhang
Da-Wei Fu
author_sort Pei-Zhi Huang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The ability of plastic deformation exerts in bulk crystals would offer great promise for ferroelectrics to achieve emerging and exciting applications. However, conventional ferroelectric crystals generally suffer from inherent brittleness and are easy to fracture. Here, by implementing fluorination on anion, we successfully design a flexible organic ferroelectric phenylethylammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate (PEA-TFMS) with interesting plasticity in its bulk crystals. To our knowledge, it is the first observation since the discovery of organic ferroelectric crystal triglycine sulfate in 1956. Compared to parent PEA-MS (phenylethylammonium mesylate), fluorination subtly alters ionic orientation and interactions to reorganize dipole arrangement, which not only brings switchable spontaneous polarization but also endows PEA-TFMS crystal with macroscopical bending and spiral deformability, making it a competitive candidate for flexible and wearable devices. Our work will bring inspiration for obtaining mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystals toward flexible electronics.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-b7b3d3b90e0d421b8ec3a0a5d1ff6a1d2025-08-20T03:40:44ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-0116111010.1038/s41467-025-58416-yMechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystal with plasticity optimized by fluorinationPei-Zhi Huang0Zunqi Liu1Lou-Kai Ye2Hao-Fei Ni3Jia-Qi Luo4Gele Teri5Qiang-Qiang Jia6Bo Zhuang7Chang-Feng Wang8Zhi-Xu Zhang9Yi Zhang10Da-Wei Fu11Institute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityChemistry and Chemical Engineering College, Xinjiang Agricultural UniversityInstitute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityInstitute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityInstitute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityInstitute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityInstitute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityOrdered Matter Science Research Center, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Science and applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Southeast UniversityInstitute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityInstitute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityInstitute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityInstitute for Science and Applications of Molecular Ferroelectrics, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Zhejiang Normal UniversityAbstract The ability of plastic deformation exerts in bulk crystals would offer great promise for ferroelectrics to achieve emerging and exciting applications. However, conventional ferroelectric crystals generally suffer from inherent brittleness and are easy to fracture. Here, by implementing fluorination on anion, we successfully design a flexible organic ferroelectric phenylethylammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate (PEA-TFMS) with interesting plasticity in its bulk crystals. To our knowledge, it is the first observation since the discovery of organic ferroelectric crystal triglycine sulfate in 1956. Compared to parent PEA-MS (phenylethylammonium mesylate), fluorination subtly alters ionic orientation and interactions to reorganize dipole arrangement, which not only brings switchable spontaneous polarization but also endows PEA-TFMS crystal with macroscopical bending and spiral deformability, making it a competitive candidate for flexible and wearable devices. Our work will bring inspiration for obtaining mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystals toward flexible electronics.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58416-y
spellingShingle Pei-Zhi Huang
Zunqi Liu
Lou-Kai Ye
Hao-Fei Ni
Jia-Qi Luo
Gele Teri
Qiang-Qiang Jia
Bo Zhuang
Chang-Feng Wang
Zhi-Xu Zhang
Yi Zhang
Da-Wei Fu
Mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystal with plasticity optimized by fluorination
Nature Communications
title Mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystal with plasticity optimized by fluorination
title_full Mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystal with plasticity optimized by fluorination
title_fullStr Mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystal with plasticity optimized by fluorination
title_full_unstemmed Mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystal with plasticity optimized by fluorination
title_short Mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystal with plasticity optimized by fluorination
title_sort mechanically deformable organic ferroelectric crystal with plasticity optimized by fluorination
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58416-y
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