Ferroelectric, flexoelectric and photothermal coupling in PVDF-based composites for flexible photoelectric sensors.

A ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film with excellent flexibility possesses great potential for photodetection and wearable devices. However, the relatively weak photo-absorption and the consequent small photocurrent limit its photofunctional properties. Herein, we embedded a strongly visible-light active material system, 0.5Ba(Zr0.08Ti0.8Mn0.12)O3-0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 (BZTM-BCT) loaded with Ag and Au nanoparticles, into a PVDF film, which demonstrates a significantly higher photovoltaic response in the whole visible light range with a ß-phase content of over 90%. In a state of "bending + poling", the PVDF/BZTM-BCT:Au film presents an optimal response for photoelectric properties by exhibiting a photocurrent that is 57 times higher than that of a pure PVDF film when illuminated with 405 nm LED light at 100 mW cm-2. Photoexcitation and thermal excitation jointly contribute to the generation of free carriers, while the flexoelectric and ferroelectric coupling electric field provides a greater driving force for carrier separation and transport. More interestingly, composite film-based photoelectric sensors can simultaneously respond to light and the movement and deformation of contacted things, indicating its potential in versatile applications. Overall, this work puts forward a new route for designing new flexible multifunctional photoelectric devices.

Ultra-large electromechanical deformation in lead-free piezoceramics at reduced thickness.

Lead-free piezoceramics with large controllable deformations are highly desirable for numerous energy converter applications ranging from consumer electronics to medical microrobots. Although several new classes of high-performance ferroelectrics have been discovered, a universal strategy to enable various piezoceramics to realize large electromechanical deformations is still lacking. Herein, by gradually reducing the thickness from 0.5 mm to 0.1 mm, we discover that a large nominal electrostrain of ∼11.49% can be achieved in thin 0.937(Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-0.063BaTiO3 (BNT-BT) ceramics with highly asymmetric strain-electric field curves. Further analyses of the polarization switching process reveal that the boosted strain curves originate from the bending deformation driven by asymmetric ferroelastic switching in the surface layers. Based on this, one monolayer BNT-BT was designed to realize digital displacement actuation and a scanning mirror application with a maximum mirror deflection angle of 44.38°. Moreover, the surface effect-induced bending deformation can be extended to other piezoceramics, accompanied by derived shape retention effects. These discoveries raise the possibility of utilizing thickness engineering to design large-displacement actuators and may accelerate the development of high-performance lead-free piezoceramics.