Flexoelectric effect: ambiguities, controversies, and applications

Abstract

This chapter deals with the recent discoveries in flexoelectricity and focuses on the flexoelectric material’s ambiguities, controversies, and applications. An unresolved issue is that the measured flexoelectric coefficients in ferroelectric materials are typically an order of magnitude higher than those theoretically predicted. Thus, this chapter went into detail about current theoretical frameworks for flexoelectricity and its debatable mechanisms. Additionally, the factors influencing it are highlighted, including various methods of flexoelectric response and effective flexoelectric coefficients in ferroelectric. The difficulties and challenges associated with flexoelectric coefficients, including the orders-of-magnitude variations between currently available empirically measured and calculated values, are described. Flexoelectricity provides a variety of materials choice along with promising applications in sensors, actuators, transducers, and energy harvesting are explained. In addition to these uses, the most recent flexoelectricity experimental and computational research efforts suggest that they can aid in advancing nanoelectronics and novel applications. Future perspectives for flexoelectric research directions were covered at the end of the chapter. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.