Ferroelectric Polymers and Their Energy-Related Applications

The discovery of ferroelectric phenomenon in polymers in early 1970s has aroused tremendous research interests in these soft materials with intriguing physical properties, and led to a broad range of applications. Since then the understanding of physical origin of ferroelectricity in these macromolecules has been fast deepened by virtue of the rapid development of ferroelectric polymer science, which in turn has enabled better design of ferroelectric polymers with improved performance. Over the last two decades, as boosted by the increasing demand for advanced energy technologies, great progress has been made in understanding and developing new ferroelectric polymers toward energy-related applications. This trend article summarizes the important aspects and recent advances in the research area of ferroelectric polymers, covering from understanding of material fundamentals, through synthesis and processing techniques, to applications in energy conversion and storage. Ferroelectric polymers combine the unique physical properties of ferroelectrics and inherent advantages of organic materials. With highly tunable physical properties via tailoring chemical compositions and processing conditions, ferroelectric polymers are becoming the core components of advanced electronics, energy storage, and conversion devices.