Highly elastic relaxor ferroelectrics for wearable energy storage

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Science
• Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

• Polymer-based relaxor ferroelectrics are crucial for advanced electronics.
• Flexible electronics demand elastic ferroelectric materials with high dielectric constants and mechanical resilience.
• Developing intrinsic elastomers for elastic energy storage with these properties remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a strain-insensitive, high elastic relaxor ferroelectric elastomer.
• To achieve high dielectric constant and excellent resilience for elastic energy storage applications.
• To explore the potential of elastified relaxor ferroelectric materials.

Main Methods:

• Peroxide crosslinking of a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-based copolymer at low temperature.
• Characterization of dielectric properties, thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability.
• Evaluation of energy density and storage efficiency under varying strain levels.

Main Results:

• A strain-insensitive, high elastic relaxor ferroelectric elastomer was successfully prepared.
• The material exhibits an intrinsic high dielectric constant (∼20 at 100 Hz).
• Stable energy density (>8 J cm⁻³) and efficiency (>75%) were maintained from 0% to 80% strain.

Conclusions:

• The developed elastomer offers a promising solution for high-performance flexible electronic applications.
• Its strain-insensitive, high dielectric, and resilient nature makes it suitable for soft robotics, smart textiles, and electronic skin.
• This work advances the field of elastic energy storage materials.