Molecular approach to truly identical ultra-small CeO2 nanoparticles, and their use as catalysts and supports
Yuzhong Hu, NTNU, Norway
Friday, 30 September 2026, 12.00 PM
ICMAB - Sala d'Actes Carles Miravitlles
Abstract
Photoelectric and electromechanical energy conversion underpin broad fundamental studies and applications related to semiconductor and mechanical-sensing technologies. With switchable spontaneous polarisation, ferroelectrics add memory functionality to photoelectric semiconductors and enable high-performance electromechanical sensors and energy harvesters. However, traditional ferroelectric oxide perovskites are limited by low bulk photovoltaic responses, such as low photocurrent, limited piezoelectric coefficients, generally <200 pm/V, and suppressed ferroelectricity at the nanoscale, unswitchable or vanished polarisation.
Organic–inorganic hybrid ferroelectrics (OIHFs) are an emerging ferroelectric family containing both organic and inorganic components within the unit cell. Owing to their distinctive compositional and structural features, they exhibit intrinsically different polarisation-reversal and photoferroelectric behaviours that are largely inaccessible in traditional ferroelectrics. Compared with ferroelectric oxides, our series of works demonstrates that OIHFs can deliver two orders of magnitude larger electromechanical strain, up to 22%, combine organic-like softness with inorganic-like high piezoelectricity (4800 pm/V), retain ultrathin ferroelectric and photoelectric robustness, and generate giant bulk photovoltaic fields with anisotropy strikingly different from conventional materials.
Our work positions OIHFs as unique ultrathin photoferroelectrics and high-performance soft piezoelectrics within the ferroelectric family, offering highly desired functionalities that are difficult to access using traditional ferroelectrics. We also establish a series of formulae to describe these emergent behaviours, providing a theoretical foundation for this novel and promising ferroelectric family.
Short bio
Yuzhong Hu is a postdoctoral researcher working on the photoferroelectric, electromechanical and 2D properties of OIHFs and 2D inorganic ferroelectrics. His series of works identifies OIHFs as nanoscale photoferroelectrics and high-performance soft piezoelectrics, offering highly desired functionalities that are difficult to achieve using traditional ferroelectrics. This contributes to establishing the independent identity of OIHFs beyond the solar-cell-oriented research of hybrid perovskites. He obtained his PhD from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Afterwards, he was a research fellow at the University of Warwick, working in Prof. Marin Alexe’s group from 2021 to 2022, before securing a two-year Humboldt Fellowship at Heidelberg University. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the FACET group at NTNU, Norway.
Hosted by Florencio Sánchez, from the FOXEM group (Materials for Electronics Research Line)
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