The First Chiro‐Inositol Organosilicon Ferroelectric Crystal
Zhi‐Xu Zhang, Xian‐Jiang Song, Yi‐Rong Li, Xiao‐Gang Chen, Yao Zhang, Hui‐Peng Lv, Yuan‐Yuan Tang, Ren‐Gen Xiong, Han‐Yue Zhang
Abstract
Abstract Organosilicons have been used extensively in aerospace, electronics, food, medicine and other fields, due to their low viscosity, hydrophobicity, corrosion resistance, non‐toxic, and physiologically inert features. Despite extensive interest, however, organosilicon ferroelectric crystals have never been found. Here, by using the chemical design strategy, we successfully obtained a molecular ferroelectric D‐ chiro ‐inositol‐SiMe 3 with polar P 4 3 symmetry, whose spontaneous polarization can be electrically switchable on thin film. The introduction of organosilicon groups endows the thin films with excellent softness, ductility and flexibility (extremely low hardness of 72.8 MPa and small elastic modulus of 5.04 GPa) that are desirable for biomedical and human‐compatible applications. As the first case of organosilicon ferroelectric crystal to date, this work offers a new structural paradigm for molecular ferroelectrics, and highlights their potential for flexible bio‐electronic applications.