Submit to Materials Review for Materials Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Electronic Functional Materials: Synthesis, Structure, Property, Mechanism and Application

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Electronic Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 October 2023) | Viewed by 8769

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Haijun Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
Interests: ferroelectrics/piezoelectrics; thermoelectrics; functional oxide interfaces; structure-property correlation; aberration-corrected STEM

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will compile recent developments in the field of electronic functional materials. In electronic functional materials, the charge interplays cooperatively with other degrees of freedom, e.g., lattice, phonon, and spin, and the correlation between these degrees of freedom and related couplings generates a rich spectrum of competing phases and physical responses, including ferroelectricity, thermoelectricity, ferromagnetism, piezoelectricity superconductivity, metal-insulator transitions, etc. This has led to extensive studies of both bulks, thin films and nanomaterials, with the aim of increasing our understanding of the fundamental nature of existing materials systems, so that we might be able to better control and design novel materials for applications. The articles presented in this Special Issue will cover various topics, ranging from, but not limited to, ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, thermoelectrics, ferromagnetics, eielectrics, etc. Topics are open to synthesis, structure, property, mechanism and application of electronic functional materials.

Prof. Dr. Haijun Wu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

electrical
ferroelectric
thermoelectric
ferroelastic
ferromagnetic
piezoelectric
dielectric

Published Papers (7 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

11 pages, 3532 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Direct Observation of Evolution from Amorphous Phase to Strain Glass

by Andong Xiao, Zhijian Zhou, Yu Qian and Xu Wang

Materials 2022, 15(22), 7900; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15227900 - 09 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1238

Abstract

The amorphous phase and strain glass are both disordered states of solids. The amorphous phase is an atomic packing disordered phase, while strain glass is a glassy state with transformation strain disorder in a crystalline matrix, which both bring extraordinary properties to alloys. Previous studies have mostly focused on the properties and structure of single glass; however, the link between them has seldom been considered. In this work, the specimen of the almost amorphous state was obtained from the heavy-defects-doping Fe_67.8Pd_32.2 strain glass ingot by arc melting and 90% cold rolling, which were characterized by amorphous packages in X-ray diffraction and amorphous rings in transmission electron microscope diffraction. The evolution from the amorphous phase (metallic glass) back to strain glass was directly observed by an in situ high-resolution transmission electron microscope, which revealed that strain nanodomains began to form on the amorphous matrix below the crystallization temperature of the amorphous phase. Here, direct observation of the evolution process provides a theoretical basis for achieving precise control of crystallinity to obtain the desired microstructure, while the study of the unusual crystallization process offers a possible way to tailor the mechanical and functional properties through tuning the amorphous and strain glass coexistence. This work presents the specific pathway and realization possibilities for the design of glass composite materials with enhanced properties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic Functional Materials: Synthesis, Structure, Property, Mechanism and Application)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 3304 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Piezoelectric Properties in a Single-Phase Region of Sm-Modified Lead-Free (Ba,Ca)(Zr,Ti)O₃ Ceramics

by Andong Xiao, Xuefan Xie, Liqiang He, Yang Yang and Yuanchao Ji

Materials 2022, 15(21), 7839; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15217839 - 07 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1571

Abstract

In ferroelectric materials, phase boundaries such as the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) and polymorphic phase boundary (PPB) have been widely utilized to enhance the piezoelectric properties. However, for a single-ferroelectric-phase system, there are few effective paradigms to achieve the enhancement of piezoelectric properties. Herein, we report an unexpected finding that largely enhanced piezoelectric properties occur in a single-tetragonal-ferroelectric-phase region in the Sm-modified (Ba_0.85Ca_0.15)(Zr_0.1Ti_0.9)O₃ (BCZT-xSm) system. An electrostrain maximum (0.13%) appears in the single-phase region of the BZCT-0.5Sm composition with the maximum polarization (P_m = 18.37 µC/cm²) and piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃ = 396 pC/N) and the minimum coercive field (E_C = 3.30 kV/cm) at room temperature. Such an enhanced piezoelectric effect is due to the synergistic effect of large lattice distortion and domain miniaturization on the basis of the transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation and X-ray diffraction (XRD) Rietveld refinement. Our work may provide new insights into the design of high-performance ferroelectrics in the single-phase region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic Functional Materials: Synthesis, Structure, Property, Mechanism and Application)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 2475 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Regulating the Configurational Entropy to Improve the Thermoelectric Properties of (GeTe)_1−x(MnZnCdTe₃)_x Alloys

by Yilun Huang, Shizhen Zhi, Shengnan Zhang, Wenqing Yao, Weiqin Ao, Chaohua Zhang, Fusheng Liu, Junqin Li and Lipeng Hu

Materials 2022, 15(19), 6798; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15196798 - 30 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1391

Abstract

In thermoelectrics, entropy engineering as an emerging paradigm-shifting strategy can simultaneously enhance the crystal symmetry, increase the solubility limit of specific elements, and reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. However, the severe lattice distortion in high-entropy materials blocks the carrier transport and hence results in an extremely low carrier mobility. Herein, the design principle for selecting alloying species is introduced as an effective strategy to compensate for the deterioration of carrier mobility in GeTe-based alloys. It demonstrates that high configurational entropy via progressive MnZnCdTe₃ and Sb co-alloying can promote the rhombohedral-cubic phase transition temperature toward room temperature, which thus contributes to the enhanced density-of-states effective mass. Combined with the reduced carrier concentration via the suppressed Ge vacancies by high-entropy effect and Sb donor doping, a large Seebeck coefficient is attained. Meanwhile, the severe lattice distortions and micron-sized Zn_0.6Cd_0.4Te precipitations restrain the lattice thermal conductivity approaching to the theoretical minimum value. Finally, the maximum zT of Ge_0.82Sb_0.08Te_0.90(MnZnCdTe₃)_0.10 reaches 1.24 at 723 K via the trade-off between the degraded carrier mobility and the improved Seebeck coefficient, as well as the depressed lattice thermal conductivity. These results provide a reference for the implementation of entropy engineering in GeTe and other thermoelectric materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic Functional Materials: Synthesis, Structure, Property, Mechanism and Application)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 3644 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal Conductivity Stability of Interfacial in Situ Al₄C₃ Engineered Diamond/Al Composites Subjected to Thermal Cycling

by Ning Li, Jinpeng Hao, Yongjian Zhang, Wei Wang, Jie Zhao, Haijun Wu, Xitao Wang and Hailong Zhang

Materials 2022, 15(19), 6640; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15196640 - 24 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1264

Abstract

The stability of the thermal properties of diamond/Al composites during thermal cycling is crucial to their thermal management applications. In this study, we realize a well-bonded interface in diamond/Al composites by interfacial in situ Al₄C₃ engineering. As a result, the excellent stability of thermal conductivity in the diamond/Al composites is presented after 200 thermal cycles from 218 to 423 K. The thermal conductivity is decreased by only 2–5%, mainly in the first 50–100 thermal cycles. The reduction of thermal conductivity is ascribed to the residual plastic strain in the Al matrix after thermal cycling. Significantly, the 272 μm-diamond/Al composite maintains a thermal conductivity over 700 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ after 200 thermal cycles, much higher than the reported values. The discrete in situ Al₄C₃ phase strengthens the diamond/Al interface and reduces the thermal stress during thermal cycling, which is responsible for the high thermal conductivity stability in the composites. The diamond/Al composites show a promising prospect for electronic packaging applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic Functional Materials: Synthesis, Structure, Property, Mechanism and Application)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

7 pages, 1572 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Memristive Characteristics of the Single-Layer P-Type CuAlO₂ and N-Type ZnO Memristors

by Wenqing Song, Xinmiao Li, Ruihua Fang and Lei Zhang

Materials 2022, 15(10), 3637; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15103637 - 19 May 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1225

Abstract

Memristive behaviors are demonstrated in the single-layer oxide-based devices. The conduction states can be continually modulated with different pulses or voltage sweeps. Here, the p-CuAlO₂- and n-ZnO-based memristors show the opposite bias polarity dependence with the help of tip electrode. It is well known that the conductivity of p-type and n-type semiconductor materials has the opposite oxygen concentration dependence. Thus, the memristive behaviors may attribute to the oxygen ion migration in the dielectric layers for the single-layer oxide based memristors. Further, based on the redox, the model of compressing dielectric layer thickness has been proposed to explain the memristive behavior. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic Functional Materials: Synthesis, Structure, Property, Mechanism and Application)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 1920 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Structure and Electrical Properties of Microwave Sintered BTS-BCT-xBF Lead-Free Piezoelectric Ceramics

by Tao Wang, Jian Ma, Bo Wu, Fenghua Wang, Shiyu Wang, Min Chen and Wenjuan Wu

Materials 2022, 15(5), 1789; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15051789 - 27 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1641

Abstract

Barium titanate (BT)-based ceramics are one of the promising piezoelectric materials for environment-friendly electro-mechanical transformation. However, high performance materials are often sintered at high temperatures, resulting in volatile components and increased energy consumption. Here, 0.82Ba(Ti_0.89Sn_0.11)O₃-(0.18-x)(Ba_0.7Ca_0.3)TiO₃-xBiFeO₃ (BTS-BCT-xBF) piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by microwave sintering (MWS) method, and the structure and properties were emphatically studied, aiming to reveal the regulatory mechanism of MWS on the structure and properties. Compared with conventional solid sintering (CS), the phase structure presents a similar evolution in MWS ceramics as a function of BF, while the more refined grain size and the denser structure are observed in MWS ceramics. The electrical properties (e.g., d₃₃, ε_r, tan δ, etc.) of MWS ceramics are superior to the CS ceramics owing to the refined grain size and denser microstructure. It is worth noting that the energy storage performance (e.g., energy storage density, energy storage efficiency) significantly outperformed expectations due to the slender hysteresis loop resulting from the smaller grain and high cubic phase. Therefore, the MWS sintering mechanism can further drive practical application of BT-based ceramics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic Functional Materials: Synthesis, Structure, Property, Mechanism and Application)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

24 pages, 10828 KiB

Open AccessReview

Seeing Structural Mechanisms of Optimized Piezoelectric and Thermoelectric Bulk Materials through Structural Defect Engineering

by Yang Zhang, Wanbo Qu, Guyang Peng, Chenglong Zhang, Ziyu Liu, Juncheng Liu, Shurong Li, Haijun Wu, Lingjie Meng and Lumei Gao

Materials 2022, 15(2), 487; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15020487 - 09 Jan 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2088

Abstract

Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (AC-STEM) has evolved into the most powerful characterization and manufacturing platform for all materials, especially functional materials with complex structural characteristics that respond dynamically to external fields. It has become possible to directly observe and tune all kinds of defects, including those at the crucial atomic scale. In-depth understanding and technically tailoring structural defects will be of great significance for revealing the structure-performance relation of existing high-property materials, as well as for foreseeing paths to the design of high-performance materials. Insights would be gained from piezoelectrics and thermoelectrics, two representative functional materials. A general strategy is highlighted for optimizing these functional materials’ properties, namely defect engineering at the atomic scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electronic Functional Materials: Synthesis, Structure, Property, Mechanism and Application)

► Show Figures