Thermally Stable Capacitive Energy-Density and Colossal Electrocaloric and Pyroelectric Effects of Sm-Doped Pb(MgNb)O-PbTiO Thin Films.

Sm-doped Pb(MgNb)O-PbTiO (Sm-PMN-PT) bulk materials have revealed outstanding ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties due to enhanced local structural heterogeneity. In this study, we further explore the potential of Sm-PMN-PT by fabricating epitaxial thin films by pulsed laser deposition, revealing that Sm doping significantly improves the capacitive energy-storage, piezoelectric, electrocaloric, and pyroelectric properties of PMN-PT thin films. These Sm-PMN-PT thin films exhibit fatigue-free performance up to 10 charge-discharge cycles and maintain thermal stability across a wide temperature range from -40 to 200 °C.

Easily deposited ZnO nanorods on siloxene nanosheets: investigation of morphological, dielectric, ferroelectric, and energy storage properties.

The integration of metal oxides onto two-dimensional layered siloxene has proven to be an effective strategy for expanding potential applications across diverse fields. Herein, we present the synthesis and detailed characterization of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods deposited on siloxene nanosheets using the wet chemical precipitation method without the need of alkali. The presence of ZnO nanorods was confirmed through electron microscopy analyses.

Criticality Controlling Mechanisms in Nematic Liquid Crystals.

We theoretically study the generic mechanisms that could establish critical behavior in nematic liquid crystals (NLCs). The corresponding free energy density terms should exhibit linear coupling with the nematic order parameter and, via this coupling, enhance the nematic order. We consider both temperature- and pressure-driven, order-disorder phase transitions.

Dielectric and energy storage properties of surface-modified BaTiSnO@polydopamine nanoparticles embedded in a PVDF-HFP matrix.

In the most recent electronic and electric sectors, ceramic-polymer nanocomposites with high dielectric permittivity and energy density are gaining popularity. However, the main obstacle to improving the energy density in flexible nanocomposites, besides the size and morphology of the ceramic filler, is the low interfacial compatibility between the ceramic and the polymer. This paper presents an alternative solution to improve the dielectric permittivity and energy storage properties for electronic applications.

Liquid crystal based active electrocaloric regenerator.

The active electrocaloric (EC) regenerator exploiting electric conversion into thermal energy has recently become important for developing a new generation of heat-management devices. We analyze an active EC regenerator numerically. We establish a temperature span across the regenerator by commuting a liquid crystalline (LC) unit between regions with and without an external electric field .