Room Temperature Single‐Component Organic Multiferroics with Large Magnetoelectric Coupling: Proficient Approach for Stray‐Magnetic Field Harvesting

Abstract

Magnetoelectric materials are highly desirable for technological applications due to their ability to produce electricity under a magnetic field. Among the various types of magnetoelectric materials studied, their organic counterparts provide an opportunity to develop solution‐processable, flexible, lightweight, and wearable electronic devices. However, there is a rare choice of solution‐processable, flexible, lightweight magnetoelectric materials which has tremendous technological interest. A supramolecular scaffold with precisely positioned structure‐forming and functional units (electrical dipoles and magnetic spins) is designed so that self‐assembly results in functional unit organization. Structure‐forming segments allow these scaffolds to self‐assemble into hierarchically ordered structures in nonpolar solvents, creating nanofibrous organogel networks. In particular, the xerogel derived from this organogel exhibits the highest magnetoelectric coupling coefficient (αME ≈ 216 mV Oe−1 cm−1) reported to date for organic materials. This is even greater than commonly envisioned composite materials made of piezoelectric polymers and inorganic magnets. This single‐component organic multiferroic material displays ferroelectricity (Tc ≈ 46 °C) and paramagnetic behavior at room temperature. With this, it is demonstrated that the possibilities of effectively harvesting stray magnetic fields that are copiously available in the surroundings and wasted otherwise.