Molecular ferroelectrics are highly desirable for their easy and environmentally friendly processing, light weight, and mechanical flexibility. We found that diisopropylammonium bromide (DIPAB), a molecular crystal processed from aqueous solution, is a ferroelectric with a spontaneous polarization of 23 microcoulombs per square centimeter [close to that of barium titanate (BTO)], high Curie temperature of 426 kelvin (above that of BTO), large dielectric constant, and low dielectric loss. DIPAB exhibits good piezoelectric response and well-defined ferroelectric domains. These attributes make it a molecular alternative to perovskite ferroelectrics and ferroelectric
polymers in sensing, actuation, data storage, electro-optics, and molecular or flexible electronics.
Please see details in the paper, http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6118/425.full?rss=1
A perspective by Dawn Bonnell, http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6118/401.summary
A UW release, http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/01/24/organic-ferroelectric-molecul…