Zeolite-type compounds with improper ferroelectricity

Abstract

Our group has recently found improper ferroelectric materials in aluminate-sodalite-type compounds that belong to a zeolite-family. The aluminate-sodalite-type compounds are mainly composed of eco-friendly elements, which are ubiquitous in the earth’s crust. A conventional strategy for the development of ferroelectric materials is based on perovskite-type compounds, leading to many practical applications for device elements such as capacitors and frequency filters. Aluminate-sodalite-type ferroelectrics, on the other hand, show excellent performance for pyroelectric energy harvesting, which exceeds that of lead-based perovskite-type compounds, indicating the potential of non-perovskite-type ferroelectrics for functional materials. Here we give an overview of the improper ferroelectricity in aluminate-sodalite-type compounds and discuss their performance for pyroelectric energy harvesting in connection with their improper ferroelectricity.