Giant Flexoelectric-Like Response via Macroscopic Symmetry Design.

Flexoelectricity is enabled by symmetry in all materials. However, flexoelectric material application is limited by the normally low charge density produced in bulk materials. In this study, a universal strategy involving a macroscopic symmetry design is proposed to enhance the flexoelectricity.

Ultra-soft organic combined film with piezoelectricity induced by liquid-liquid interface polar engineering.

Although organic piezoelectric materials are increasingly being studied in the field of biomechanical sensing, the combination of high piezoelectricity and high softness is still a huge challenge due to the existence of steric hindrance effect. To conquer this, a polar engineering utilizing liquid-liquid interface induced orientation is developed. It induces polar asymmetry in two linear polymers (polystyrene-block-polyisoprene-block-polystyrene/polyethylene glycol, PEG/SIS) with low steric hindrance through a polar interface, thereby achieving high piezoelectricity in a soft material system.

Physical crosslinked hydrogel-derived smart windows: anti-freezing and fast thermal responsive performance.

Thermochromic hydrogels are versatile smart materials that have many applications, including in smart windows, sensing, camouflage, The previous reports of hydrogel smart windows have been based on covalent crosslinking, requiring multistep processing, and complicated preparation. Moreover, most research studies focused on enhancing the luminous transmittance () and modulating ability (Δ), while the structural integrity and antifreezing ability, which are essential in practical applications, have been compromised and rarely investigated. Herein, we develop a new physical (noncovalent crosslinked) hydrogel-derived smart window by introducing an free radical polymerization (FRP) of -isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) in a glycerol-water (GW) binary solvent system.

New hybrid organic-zincophosphate frameworks: single-crystal-to-single-crystal structural transformation and remarkable thermal and chemical stabilities.

This research is the first example of a hybrid metal phosphate that undergoes an SCSC structural transformation and provides a new route for the synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid materials with high stabilities via the introduction of nitrogen-donor ligands into a metal-phosphate system. The synthesis, structural diversity, and thermal and chemical stabilities are also discussed.