Abstract
Plastic crystals are a class of compounds composed of small molecules with globular structures. Plastic crystals exhibit various unique features, most of which arise from the rotator motion and orientational disorder of the constituent molecules. We recently discovered that some plastic crystals exhibit ferroelectricity in lower-temperature phases, including the room-temperature phase. The crystals, i.e., plastic/ferroelectric molecular crystals, have demonstrated several unique features that differ from conventional molecular ferroelectrics. In particular, the materials have achieved ferroelectric performance for the first time as bulk polycrystals of small-molecule crystals. These features are attributed to the multiaxial ferroelectricity and facile preparation of monolithic bulk polycrystals, which are impossible to achieve for conventional molecular crystals. Numerous related molecular ferroelectrics have been developed, rendering plastic/ferroelectric crystals an emerging class of molecular ferroelectrics. In this perspective, we have outlined the development and unique features of plastic/ferroelectric molecular crystals, focusing particularly on their ferroelectricity and related properties in bulk polycrystalline forms.
Highlights
Molecular ferroelectric crystals have been attracting growing interest as potential alternatives to or complements of widely used ferroelectric perovskite oxides.[1,2,3,4,5] Of particular note in terms of environmental friendliness and sustainability are their non-toxicity and abundance of component elements
The magnetoelectric composites with an amorphous FeBSi alloy (Metglas) exhibited larger magnetoelectric responses at room temperature. These results demonstrate the potential of plastic/ferroelectric molecular crystals as magnetoelectric composite materials, exploiting piezoelectricity in bulk polycrystalline forms and facile processability into thin plates owing to their malleability
In terms of practical applications, ferroelectric perovskite oxides are of pronounced importance and have a wide range of applications, which makes the materials indispensable for technologies used in modern society
Summary
Molecular ferroelectric crystals have been attracting growing interest as potential alternatives to or complements of widely used ferroelectric perovskite oxides.[1,2,3,4,5] Of particular note in terms of environmental friendliness and sustainability are their non-toxicity and abundance of component elements. The highly symmetric cubic crystal structure in the plastic crystal phase of 1 endows the materials with multiaxial ferroelectricity and ferroelectric performance in the bulk polycrystalline form for the first time as molecular ferroelectric crystals.
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