Yi
Zhang
,
Heng-Yun
Ye
,
Wen
Zhang
and
Ren-Gen
Xiong
*
Ordered Matter Science Research Center, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, P. R. China. E-mail: xiongrg@seu.edu.cn; Tel: +86-25-52090626
First published on 6th January 2014
Reaction of CdCl2 with cyclopentylamine in the presence of aqueous HCl affords an ABX3-typed perovskite structure compound [C5H9–NH3][CdCl3] (1). Above 300 K, it is in a paraelectric phase with a centrosymmetric space group Cmcm, while below 300 K it has a noncentrosymmetric space group Cc, corresponding to a ferroelectric phase. The temperature-dependent dielectric constant shows a peak at about 300 K with a 12-fold enhancement which is confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry. The normalized pyroelectric and second-harmonic generation effect as functions of temperature are almost overlapped, probably indicating that the trends with temperature basically satisfy the Landau phenomenological theory, revealing a symmetry-breaking occurrence. The ferroelectricity, a spontaneous saturation polarization approximately reaching 1.7 μC cm−2, is further confirmed by piezoresponse force microscopy.
Generally, any materials with the same type of crystal structure as CaTiO3 can be called perovskite-type compounds with a general chemical formula ABX3 where A and B are two different cations of very different sizes, i.e. A atoms are larger than B atoms, and X is an anion that binds to both of the cations. In the ideal cubic-symmetry perovskite structure, the B cation has a 6-fold octahedral coordination, surrounded by six anions, and the A cation displays a 12-fold cuboctahedral coordination.1–3
Recently, molecule-based ABX3 ferroelectrics mimicking ABO3-type perovskite structure ceramic ferroelectrics have received much attention, including metal–organic framework [R2NH2][M(HCOO)]3 where R is H or methyl and M is divalent Zn, Mn, Cu, Co, Ni, etc. Their spontaneous polarizations (Ps) range from about 1 to 3 μC cm−2 and phase transition temperatures are all below 0 °C. It is worth noting that in their structure the formate only coordinates to M. This feature makes the molecular perovskite ferroelectrics tunable by chemical modifications. Low-symmetric feature make this type of compounds unique directional ferroelectrics with an Aizu expression of 622F6.4–6
Another family of ABX3-type perovskite compounds is the one where X is a halogen ion (Cl, Br or I). Typical examples are one-dimensional [NMe4][CdBr3] (Tc = 156 K, P63/m to P63, Aizu expression 6/mF6) and three-dimensional [MeNH3][SnCl3] (Tc = 350 K, Pm3m to R3m, Aizu expression m3mF3m). Similarly, in these compounds, the halogen ions only bound to the B cations (Cd or Sn). Investigations on their ferroelectric properties reveal that only [NMe4][CdBr3] displays a weak ferroelectric spontaneous polarization (0.12 μC cm−2) with a relatively bad P–E hysteresis loop.7,8
Encouraged by the structural tunability of ABX3-typed perovskite compounds, we discovered that the reaction of CdCl2 with cyclopentylamine in the presence of aqueous HCl afforded an ABX3-typed perovskite compound [C5H9–NH3][CdCl3] (1). Above room-temperature, it is in a paraelectric phase with a centrosymmetric space group Cmcm while below this temperature, it has a noncentrosymmetric space group Cc, corresponding to a ferroelectric phase. Thus it is a typical ferroelectric with an Aizu expression of mmmFm.9 Temperature-dependent dielectric, pyroelectric, and second-harmonic generation (SHG) behaviors as well as polarization switching property were performed.
At 233 K, or the low temperature phase (LTP), the crystal adopts the polar space group Cc.10 The unit cell constants approximate those at 333 K, except for a deviation of the β angle (93.469°) from 90°. The structure is refined with a racemic twinning model with a Flack value of 0.36,11 indicative of the existence of two opposite ferroelectric domains in the LTP. The obvious structural change is the ordering of the CPA cations, giving rise to a single orientation. As shown in Fig. 1–3, the dipolar C–N bonds align along the c and a directions, leading to the long-range ordering with the electric polarization; while in the HTP, the dipolar moments cancel out because the arrangement for each pair of CPA ammonium cations related by inversion centers are opposite in direction. As regards the ferroelectric origin, we can make a conclusion that in the paraelectric phase the values for the macroscopic dipolar moment can cancel each other out to result in the formation of a centrosymmetric structure because of high thermal motion, while in the ferroelectric phase the macroscopic dipolar moment develops to result in the formation of a noncentrosymmetric structure because of the thermal motion slowing down. Since the dipolar moments in each domain are reversible if a strong enough external electric field is applied, 1 is a real order–disorder ferroelectric.
Fig. 1 Asymmetric unit of 1 in the (a) HTP and (b) LTP. Atoms with suffix A–E are generated by symmetry operator. |
Definite evidence for the occurrence of the phase transition of 1 could be provided by investigating whether there are reversible peaks in DSC curve or not. Fig. 4a clearly shows that there is a heat anomaly observed at ca. 285 K upon cooling and ca. 300 K upon warming. The relatively large heat hysteresis of 15 K and sharp peaks indicate a reversible phase transition occurrence with a probable first-order feature, in good agreement with the variable-temperature crystal structure determination.12
SHG is a very sensitive probe to detect phase transitions between noncentrosymmetric and centrosymmetric structures, because it persists only in acentric materials, unless a magnetic dipole or an electric quadrupole contributes to it.13–15 Therefore, temperature dependence of second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility can be an indicator of the occurrence of a centrosymmetric-to-acentric phase transition and is useful for screening inorganic–organic hybrid ferroelectrics. According to the variable-temperature crystal structure determination of 1, it is seen that the SHG should be active in the LTP and non-active in the HTP. Fig. 4b clearly shows that above the Tc the SHG effect is zero, consistent with the centrosymmetric structure in the HTP; while below the Tc, the SHG is active with a nonzero value, consistent with the acentric structure in the LTP. Interestingly, step-like enhancement feature of the SHG effect suggests that this kind of phase transition may be of first order, in good agreement with that of DSC.
More important and interesting is the bistability of SHG effect, suggesting that 1 can find a potential application in the field of information data because of its well-defined bistability of the nonlinear optical property. The bistability window is from 285 to 300 K and is in the vicinity of room temperature, which is important for potential applications. The bistability observed in 1 is a result of a structural phase transition.
Scheme 1 shows the symmetry breaking occurrence during the HTP-to-LTP transformation, involving a decrease from 8 symmetry elements (E, 3C2, i, 3σ) to 2 (E, σ). The Aizu expression can be written as mmmFm.9 The fact that symmetry breaking involves the loss of six symmetry elements does not obey the feature of a second-order phase transition, which probably suggests that this phase transition should be of first order according to the Landau phenomenological theory. Curie symmetry principle analysis indicates that the space group (Cc, no. 9) in ferroelectric phase should be a subgroup of the space group (Cmcm, no. 63) in paraelectric phase because in Cmcm there are a set of maximal non-isomorphic subgroups (C2cm, Cm2m, Cmc21, C2221, C2/c, C2/m and C21/m) while in Cc there are a set of minimal non-isomorphic subgroups (C2/c, Cmc2, Ccc2, Ama21, Aea2, Fdd2, Iba2, Ima2, P3c1, P31c and R3c). So, C2/c is the parent group of Cc while Cmcm is the parent group of C2/c, Consequently, Cc is the minimal subgroup of Cmcm, meeting with Curie symmetry principle.
Scheme 1 Symmetry breaking change diagram from point group D2h to Cs with a loss of six symmetric elements. |
We have performed PFM measurements on crystal samples of 1 in order to investigate ferroelectric behaviors. This method was recently shown to be a very sensitive technique for piezo- and ferroelectric measurements on ferroelectric crystalline materials. Also, it has been used for the detection of biopiezo- and ferroelectricity in peptide nanotubes and amino acid glycine where both domain images and polarization switching behavior could be observed on the scale of a few nanometers.16
The ferroelectricity loop measurements on a macroscopic scale crystalline 1 are depicted in Fig. 5c. There is a hint of polarization reversal of ferroelectric nature. However, maybe we failed to grow large single crystals to guarantee the measurement exactly along the polar axis. Fortunately, the local polarization switching measurements by PFM clearly showed the ferroelectric nature of 1. As we know, the bad hysteresis loop shape is probably caused by leakage current. Usually, electric displacement or polarization (P) vs. applied electric field (E) measurements using an automated Sawyer–Tower circuit shows a ferroelectric nature though the contribution of leakage current is significant. Leakage current is a common phenomenon in molecular ferroelectrics because of their very small dielectric constants. Real ferroelectric capacitors show a leakage current that is superimposed on the displacement current, resulting in the bad shape of the hysteresis loop.
In spectroscopic PFM measurements, voltage pulses (Vdc, dc = direct current) of variable height (up to 100 V) were applied at two different locations on the 1 crystalline surface, approximately along the c-axis indicated on the PFM response images by arrows (Fig. 5d). The amplitude of the piezoresponse, which is proportional to converse d33 (1 has a direct piezoelectric coefficient of ∼7 pC N−1), and phase, whose sign indicates the polarization direction, were measured immediately after the application of each poling pulse. The dependencies of both d33 and phase with respect to Vdc show a strong hysteretic dependence (Fig. 5a and 5b), typical for polarization switching in ferroelectrics with a typical hysteresis loop and butterfly curve. These results are in good agreement with those found in typical molecular ferroelectrics triglycine sulfate (TGS), potassium sodium tartrate tetrahydrate and diisopropylamine bromide, in which the amplitude and phase as a function of Vdc all display a typical hysteresis loop and butterfly curve. It should be noted that typical butterfly-like shape amplitude is indicative of ferroelectric switching and is consistent with macroscopic measurements such as a typical ferroelectric hysteresis loop of P–E and dielectric nonlinear characteristic in which the diagram of capacitance (or dielectric constant) and bias voltage also displays butterfly-like shape.17,18
Usually, physical properties show sharp changes or anomalies near the phase transition point and the change of magnitude correlates to the characteristics of the phase transitions, e.g. common phase transition, ferroelastic or ferroelectric ones. Fig. S3† preliminarily shows that the phase transition of 1 is ferroelectric because, generally, the dielectric constant changes with an approximately double increase from a low to high temperature process for a powdered sample.
The dielectric constant (ε = ε′ − iε′′ where ε′ is the real part and ε′′ the imaginary part) as a function of temperature along the polar axis measurement of 1 further displays that the permittivity change reaches a large value (over 75 at 1 MHz) with an increase of one order of magnitude, probably suggesting that the phase transition should be ferroelectric. The ε′ in the range of low frequency above the Tc should obey the Curie–Weiss law, i.e. ε = ε0 + C/(T − T0), where T0 is the Curie temperature and is smaller than Tc for a first-order phase transition, ε0 is the vacuum permittivity, and C is the Curie–Weiss constant. Another feature of the temperature-dependent dielectric constant of 1 is that the frequency-dependent behavior is not obvious, probably suggesting that the interaction between the chains and cations is not significantly influenced by the electric field (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6 Real part of the complex dielectric constant of 1 as a function of temperature measured along the c-axis at several different frequencies in a cooling and heating cycle. |
Fig. S4† fitted by the reciprocal dielectric susceptibility (1/ε′) as a function of temperature shows that near the Tc the curve is almost linear and the Curie–Weiss constant (Cferro) is estimated at 3.2 × 102 K, much smaller than those (Cpara) found in typical molecular ferroelectrics such as TGS (3.2 × 103 K), NaNO2 (5.0 × 103 K), KH2PO4 (3.3 × 103 K), and Rochelle salt (2.2 × 103 K). On the other hand, above the Tc, the Cpara cannot be estimated because it does not obey the Curie–Weiss law. When measured along the non-polar b-axis, the dielectric constant shows nearly no anomaly (Fig. S3†). The entropy change ΔS equals 3.26 × 10−2 J g−1 K−1. According to ΔS = RlnN, the N value is estimated to be ca. 3.31, showing a strong order–disorder feature.
For a stress-free crystal, an expansion of the Gibbs free energy (G) can be written as follows: G(η) = G0 + (1/2)Aη2 + (1/4)Bη4 + (1/6)Cη6 + ⋯. Near the Tc, the η can be determined by minimizing the truncated Gibbs potential, ∂G/∂η = Aη + Bη3. Under limited conditions, we can obtain Ps = (2ε0ΔSC)1/2, where C is usually Cpara. For 1 at 1 MHz, the Ps is estimated at 1.97 μC cm−2 when C takes the value of 3.2 × 102 K, fairly comparable to the experimental value. According to the relationship between the pyroelectric coefficient p and Ps, i.e. p = Ps × ε/C, p can be estimated at 0.39 μC K−1 cm−2, falling in the range of molecular ferroelectrics.
The pyroelectric measurement of 1 shows that there is a current anomaly at 285 K upon cooling, probably indicating that above the TcPs almost equals zero, while below the TcPs increases rapidly with step-like increases to reach 1.75 μC cm−2 as shown in Fig. 7, consistent with the semi-empirical calculation. Furthermore, normalization of the Ps and SHG effect as a function of temperature into one figure shows that they almost overlap (Fig. S5†), suggesting that the change with temperature obeys the Landau phenomenological theory and above the Tc the crystal structure is centrosymmetric, in good agreement with the above-mentioned variable-temperature crystal structural determination (Fig. S4†). On the other hand, at optical frequencies, the nonlinear optical susceptibility χ(2) can be made to equal 6ε0β′Ps by ignoring high-order terms. The equation clearly shows that the behavior of the temperature dependence of the second-order nonlinear coefficient is consistent with that of Ps since β′ is almost independent of the temperature.14
Footnote |
† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: PXRD and IR patterns of the polycrystalline powder samples, the temperature-dependent dielectric constants measured along the b- and c-axis as well as powdered mode, the reciprocal dielectric susceptibility as a function of temperature, the normalization of the temperature-dependent Ps and SHG effect. CCDC 963685 and 963686. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c3qi00058c |
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