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Piezocatalysis is capable of harnessing mechanical energy for environmental remediation, which is regarded as a green and promising technology to be exploited. Piezoceramics are struggling to be used as highly efficient piezocatalysts due to their grain size reaching tens of micrometers usually. Herein, a feasible and straightforward method is proposed to turn piezoceramic powders into highly efficient piezocatalysts by integrating size optimization and oxygen vacancy modulation. This strategy is validated by treating lead‐free Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6 (SBN) piezoceramic powders with high‐energy ball‐milling (hBM). The rate constant k value of 46.95 × 10−3 min−1 for rhodamine B (RhB) piezocatalytic degradation of SBN‐hBM‐12h is almost 18 times higher than that of pristine SBN. Besides, the SBN‐hBM‐12 h catalyst performed superior antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli. The enhanced piezocatalytic efficiency is attributed to the introduced abundant oxygen vacancies absorbing and activating O2 into reactive oxygen species. Well‐modulated oxygen vacancy concentration can effectively accelerate the generation and separation of free carriers. However, the excess oxygen vacancies in SBN render the weakened piezoresponse thus suppressing the piezocatalytic activity. This study elucidates the critical role of oxygen vacancies in piezocatalysis and provides insights into the development of efficient piezocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pursuit of low-power/low-voltage operation in devices has prompted a keen interest in the mesoscale effects within ferroelectric thin films. The downsizing of ferroelectrics can significantly influence performance; for instance, the remanent polarization and coercive field are susceptible to alterations based on thickness. In this study, randomly oriented Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 thin films were fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates using the sol–gel method, and SEM observations revealed rod-like grains in all thin films. The investigation delved into the correlation between dielectric and ferroelectric properties with thin film thickness. The thin film exhibited an increased remanent polarization and a reduced coercive electric field. Additionally, the ferroelectric domain structure was scrutinized through PFM, and the resistor properties of the BLT4 thin film were studied, which shows the potential of BLT thin films in non-volatile memory and memristor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dielectric capacitors have received increasing attention due to their high power density. The Bi-based Aurivillius phase compound Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 (BLT) is considered a potential material in the field of energy storage due to its excellent ferroelectric properties and good fatigue resistance, and temperature stability. In this paper, 0.4Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.6Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 (0.4NBT4BNT-0.6BLT)-thin films were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates with the sol-gel method. The addition of BNT destroys the long-range ferroelectric order of BLT and forms nanodomains. By increasing the BNT content, the BLT is transformed from a ferroelectric state to a relaxed state, and its application in the field of energy storage is realized. The recoverable energy density is 42.41 J/cm3, and the recoverable energy storage density is relatively stable in the range of 25–200 °C with good thermal stability. The energy storage efficiency is 75.32% at ~2663 kV/cm. The leakage current density at 300 kV/cm is 1.06 × 10−9 A/cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CuInP2S6 (CIPS) is a novel two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) ferroelectric layered material with a Curie temperature of TC~315 K, making it promising for great potential applications in electronic and photoelectric devices. Herein, the ferroelectric and electric properties of CIPS at different thicknesses are carefully evaluated by scanning probe microscopy techniques. Some defects in some local regions due to Cu deficiency lead to a CuInP2S6–In4/3P2S6 (CIPS–IPS) paraelectric phase coexisting with the CIPS ferroelectric phase. An electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) study reveals that the relaxation times corresponding to the Cu ions and the IPS ionospheres are not the same, with a significant difference in their response to DC voltage, related to the rectification effect of the ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ). The electric properties of the FTJ indicate Cu+ ion migration and propose that the current flow and device performance are dynamically controlled by an interfacial Schottky barrier. The addition of the ferroelectricity of CIPS opens up applications in memories and sensors, actuators, and even spin-orbit devices based on 2D vdW heterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original definition of multiferroics is that one owns two or three "ferro" properties, such as ferroelectricity, ferroelasticity, and ferromagnetism. Furthermore, novel effects would be generated by the cross-coupling effect among various orders of multiferroic materials, and it has a broad application prospect in electronic information, sensing, storage, wireless network and other fields. At present, researchers are still focus on the multiferroic materials with strong magnetoelectric coupling effect at room temperature. However, the realization and application of devices based on multiferroics are still on the way. Strain engineering is an effective way that can influence the physical properties of multiferroic materials. The physical properties of materials such as electricity, magnetism, and photoacoustic could be influenced by strain engineering through the interaction of lattice with electrons, spins, and orbits. Tuning the structural and physical properties of ferroelectric thin films by strain has been paid extensive attention. Through investigating the research of strain engineering in multiferroic materials in this paper, herein, the strain engineering in multiferroics are summarized and effect of strain engineering on the physical properties of multiferroics is reviewed. It is prospected that the current work may provide research ideas for the investigation and development of multiferroic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin-layer MoS 2 has attracted much interest because of its potential in diverse technologies, including electronics, optoelectronics and catalysis these few years. In particular, finding a simple and effective solution for large-scale growth of thin-layer semiconductor nanosheets is a prerequisite for achieving their excellent performance. In this paper, we investigated four different substrates under identical conditions for MoS 2 film growth and observed a strong correlation between substrate surface conditions and MoS 2 growth. To enhance substrate performance, a low-concentration NaCl water solution (25 mg mL -1 ) was employed for pre-treating the substrate surface, thereby modifying its initial state. In the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth environment, the introduced halide ions served as surface dangling bonds. The pre-treated led to a remarkable 90% increase in the growth rate of MoS 2 on the substrate surface, facilitating the production of large monolayer MoS 2 sheets (∼200 μm). This growth mechanism further enabled the manufacturing of ultra-large single crystals (∼1 mm). Consequently, our research presents a straightforward and cost-effective approach for the large-scale production of nanosheets. Field-effect transistors (FETs) based on the pre-treated monolayer MoS 2 exhibited high mobility (12 cm 2 V -1 s -1 ) and a large on/off ratio (10 4 ). Therefore, our research provides a simple and low-cost approach for large-scale production of nanosheets for use in high-quality electronics over large areas., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)