journal article·2026-04-05

Freestanding Relaxor Ferroelectric Single‐Crystalline Thin Films Enable Flexible Piezoelectric Energy Harvester With Giant Power Density

Zhongqi Ren, Silin Tang, You Fu, Yixuan Ma, Junda Shao, Hailin Wang, Yangyang Si, Jingxuan Li, Tao Wang, Mohit Tanwani, Linlin Song, Jun Wei, QingQing Ke, Sujit Das, Shiqing Deng, Zuhuang Chen

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Abstract

ABSTRACT Piezoelectric‐based flexible nanogenerators have appealed tremendous attention due to their significant application potential in wearable and implantable devices. However, materials with high piezoelectricity commonly used in these nanogenerators are typically rigid oxides, which often suffer from low strain tolerance due to their intrinsic brittleness. Here, we report the development of flexible, high‐performance freestanding relaxor ferroelectric 0.68Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 ‐0.32PbTiO 3 single‐crystal nanoscale membranes, achieved through crystallographic orientation control and a sacrificial‐layer‐based wet etching process. The flexible nanogenerator fabricated from freestanding (111)‐oriented membranes exhibit outstanding electromechanical performance, with a converse piezoelectric coefficient as high as 1350 pm V −1 . Under an applied strain of ∼2.4%, the nanogenerator devices generate an open‐circuit voltage of ∼20 V and a short‐circuit current of ∼72.6 nA, corresponding to a giant power density of ∼147 mW cm − 3 , while maintaining stable operation over >30000 mechanical deformation cycles. Combined synchrotron‐based X‐ray reciprocal‐space mapping, atomically resolved electron microscopy, and comprehensive electrical characterizations reveal that substrate release induces crystallographic symmetry lowering and suppresses clamping, thereby enhancing polarization rotation and domain‐wall mobility. This work establishes a general strategy for integrating high‐performance relaxor oxide thin films into flexible platforms, advancing next‐generation energy‐harvesting and flexible electronic technologies.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · Dielectric materials and actuators · Innovative Energy Harvesting Technologies

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Materials Science and Engineering Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Guangdong China

Key Laboratory of Material Simulation Methods and Software of Ministry of Education College of Physics Jilin University Changchun China

Materials Research Centre Indian Institute of Science Bangalore Karnataka India

Education Center of Experiments and Innovations Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Guangdong China

Zhuhai Key Laboratory of Micro‐Nano Sensing Technology and Intelligent Detection School of Microelectronics Science and Technology Sun Yat‐sen University Zhuhai Guangdong China

Beijing Advanced Innovation Center For Materials Genome Engineering University of Science and Technology Beijing Beijing P.R. China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province · Natural Science Foundation of Shenzhen Municipality

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