Lead-free bismuth sodium titanate (BNT)-based ceramics have attracted strong attention as environmentally benign dielectric materials for high-efficiency electrostatic energy-storage capacitors. A key challenge is that pristine BNT typically exhibits large hysteresis, high remnant polarization, and limited dielectric reliability, which restrict recoverable energy storage and efficiency under practical electric fields. Here, we present a focused mini-review of recent studies to clarify how composition design, phase boundary tuning, defect chemistry, and microstructural control collectively enable slim or pinched polarization-electric field (P-E) behavior and improved energy-storage functionality in BNT-related bulk ceramics. The reviewed outcomes consistently show that stabilizing relaxor states governed by polar nanoregions (PNRs), often via solid-solution engineering and secondary relaxor/antiferroelectric-like incorporation, suppresses irreversible switching and reduces hysteresis loss, while densification and grain-size control enhance electrical homogeneity and breakdown strength. In addition, defect-mediated tuning of oxygen vacancy-related complexes is highlighted as an independent lever to control relaxor ergodicity and polarization reversibility, providing a complementary route to slim-loop optimization. These insights are expected to guide integrated design strategies that couple phase/relaxor-state engineering with defect and microstructure optimization, accelerating the development of reliable, temperature-robust, lead-free dielectric capacitors based on BNT-related ceramics.

The measurement of strain under an electric field has been widely employed to comprehend the fundamental principles of electro-mechanical responses in ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and electrostrictive materials. In particular, understanding the strain properties of piezoelectric materials in response to electrical stimulation is crucial for researching and developing components such as piezoelectric actuators, acoustic devices, and ultrasonic generators. This tutorial paper introduces the components and operational principles of the linear variable differential transducer (LVDT), a widely used displacement measurement device in various industries. Additionally, we present the configuration of an experimental setup using LVDT to measure the strain characteristics of ferroelectric, piezoelectric, or electrostrictive materials under the application of an electric field. This paper includes simple measurement results and analyses obtained through the LVDT experimental setup, providing valuable information on research methods for the electro-mechanical interactions of various materials.

Two-dimensional materials have shown a great promise for the next-generation electronic materials due to their unique optical, physical, and chemical properties that are distinct from their bulk counterparts. Their atomic-level thickness, the feature for flexible tenability, and exposed huge surface allow various approaches for high-performance nanoscale devices. Especially, this review highlights the recent progress on two-dimensional dielectric nanosheets, which are obtained by cheap and mass-producible solution-based exfoliation process, accompanied by the preparation methods, various deposition methods, and the characteristics of devices using a dielectric nanosheet thin films. We also present a perspective on the advantages offered by this two-dimensional dielectric nanosheets for the upcoming future nanoelectonics.

P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) (Poly (vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene)), which exhibits a high electrostriction of about 7%, can transmit tactile output as vibration or displacement. In this study, we investigated the applicability of P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) to wearable piezoelectric actuators. The P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) layers were deposited through spin-coating, and interspaced with patterned Ag electrodes to fabricate a two-layer 3.5 mm × 3.5 mm device. This layered structure was designed and fabricated to increase the output and displacement of the actuator at low driving voltages. In addition, a laser vibrometer and piezoelectric force microscope were used to analyze the device’s vibration characteristics over the range of ~200~4,200 Hz. The on-off characteristics were confirmed at a frequency of 40 Hz.

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on titanium dioxide (TiO2) have been extensively studied because of their promising low-cost alternatives to conventional semiconductor based solar cells. DSSCs consist of molecular dye at the interface between a liquid electrolyte and a mesoporous wide-bandgap semiconductor oxide. Most efforts for high conversion efficiencies have focused on dye and liquid electrolytes. However, interface engineering between dye and electrode is also important to reduce recombination and improve efficiency. In this work, for interface engineering, we deposited semiconducting ferroelectric BiFeO3 with bandgap of 2.8 eV on TiO2 nanoparticles and nanotubes. Photovoltaic properties of DSSCs were characterized as a function of thickness of BiFeO3. We showed that ferroelectric BiFeO3-coated TiO2 electrodes enable to increase overall efficiency of DSSCs, which was associated with efficient electron transport due to internal electric field originating from electric polarization. It was suggested that engineering the dye-TiO2 interface using ferroelectric materials as inorganic modifiers can be key parameter for enhanced photovoltaic performance of the cell.