Dielectrics and possible ferroelectricity in diol/glycerol covalently grafted kaolinites

Dalton Trans. 2023 Jan 24;52(4):1089-1095. doi: 10.1039/d2dt03826a.

Abstract

Kaolinite possesses a structure with asymmetrically layered 1 : 1 dioctahedral aluminum silicate, and this structural property provides a useful platform for creating new cost-efficient functional materials that require noncentrosymmetric crystal packing. In this study, we prepared three covalently grafted kaolinites of propanediol (PD)/butanediol (BD)/glycerol (GL) by forming Al-O-C bonds between the OH groups of PD/BD/GL and the surface of kaolinite (K). Three covalently grafted kaolinites (K-PD, K-BD and K-GL) were characterized by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and microanalysis for C, H and N elements. The test of K-PD, K-BD and K-GL stirred with water at ambient conditions for 3 days demonstrated these hybrids showing extra high chemical stability to water. The dielectric spectra of three hybrids show two-step dielectric relaxation in the range of 1-107 Hz, and the P-E measurements revealed the existence of ferroelectricity at room temperature with the spontaneous polarization, the remanent polarization and the coercive field of ∼0.014 μC cm-2, ∼0.008 μC cm-2 and ∼0.426 kV cm-1 for K-PD, ∼0.017 μC cm-2, ∼0.011 μC cm-2 and ∼0.645 kV cm-1 for K-BD, and ∼0.018 μC cm-2, ∼0.011 μC cm-2 and ∼0.141 kV cm-1 for K-GL, respectively.

MeSH terms

  • Glycerol*
  • Kaolin* / chemistry
  • Propylene Glycol
  • Spectrophotometry, Infrared
  • Water / chemistry
  • X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

  • Glycerol
  • Kaolin
  • 1,3-propanediol
  • Propylene Glycol
  • Water