Open Access

ARTICLE

Flexoelectricity in Solid Dielectrics: From Theory to Applications

Jianfeng Lu¹, Xu Liang^1,2, Shuling Hu^1,2

1 State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, School of Aerospace, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, P. R. China.
2 Corresponding Authors. E-mail: xul594@gmail.com; slhu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

Computers, Materials & Continua 2015, 45(3), 145-162. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmc.2015.045.145

Abstract

Flexoelectricity phenomenologically describes the universal electromechanical coupling effect between electric polarization and strain gradient, and electric field gradient and elastic strain. In contrast to piezoelectricity which is invalid in materials with inversion symmetry, flexoelectricity exists, commonly, in all solid dielectrics. In this paper, a summary of the research on flexoelectricity is presented to illustrate the development of this topic. Flexoelectricity still have many open questions and unresolved issues in the developing field, although it has attracted a surge of attention recently. Here we review the theoretical investigations and experimental studies on flexoelectricity, and the aim of the current paper is to look into the potential applications of this electromechanical coupling effect.

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Keywords

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