Issue 10, 2023

A folded π-system with supramolecularly oriented dipoles: single-component piezoelectric relaxor with NLO activity

Abstract

Organic molecules with an active dipole moment have a natural propensity to align in an antiparallel fashion in the solid state, resulting in zero macroscopic polarization. This primary limitation makes the material unresponsive to switching with electric fields, mechanical forces, and to intense laser light. A single-component organic material that bestows macroscopic dipole-driven electro-mechanical and optical functions, e.g., piezoelectric, ferroelectric and nonlinear optical (NLO) activity, is unprecedented due to the design challenges imparted by crystal symmetry and dipole orientations. Herein we report a crystalline organic material that self-assembles with a polar order (P1), and is endowed with a high piezoelectric coefficient (d33–47 pm V−1), as well as ferroelectric and Debye-type relaxor properties. In addition, it shows second harmonic generation (SHG) activity, which is more than five times that of the benchmark potassium dihydrogen phosphate. Piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM) images validated electro-mechanical deformations. Piezoresponse force spectroscopy (PFS) studies confirmed a signature butterfly-like amplitude and a phase loop. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a folded supramolecular π-system that manifests unidirectionally oriented dipoles and exhibits piezoelectricity, ferroelectricity, and has excellent ability to generate second harmonic light. These findings can herald new design possibilities based on folded architectures to explore opto-, electro- and mechano-responsive multifaceted functions.

Graphical abstract: A folded π-system with supramolecularly oriented dipoles: single-component piezoelectric relaxor with NLO activity

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
07 11 2022
Accepted
29 12 2022
First published
04 1 2023
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 2547-2552

A folded π-system with supramolecularly oriented dipoles: single-component piezoelectric relaxor with NLO activity

S. De, D. Asthana, C. Thirmal, S. K. Keshri, R. K. Ghosh, G. Hundal, R. Kumar, S. Singh, R. Chatterjee and P. Mukhopadhyay, Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 2547 DOI: 10.1039/D2SC06141D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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