Phys.org December 17, 2021
To create efficient energy storage solutions and actuators, engineers need materials with high dielectric constant. The current method of incorporating polar additives with a high dielectric constant has not yielded high enough dielectric constant for many applications. Researchers at Penn State University have demonstrated a new method for raising the dielectric constant by adding zwitterions, small molecules with one positive electrical charge and one negative electrical charge separated by covalent bonds. Zwitterions are non-volatile molecules that are highly polar. In their recent experiments, the team added the zwitterions to polymeric single-ion conductors. Zwitterions raised dielectric constant to soften all the ionic interactions that slow down ion transport. They are now trying to design zwitterions that can also lower the glass transition temperature. Adding zwitterions to any soft material can easily make the dielectric constant larger than 100… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Apparent dc conductivity for the pure zwitterion OE2ImBS. Credit: Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 228001, 24 November 2021Â