Our recent work, led by a multidisciplinary team from Queen Mary University of London, has resulted in the development of a groundbreaking ceramic material with exceptional performance.

Published in Nature Communications, the study titled 'Phase transformation in lead titanate based relaxor ferroelectrics with ultra-high strain', introduces a new lead titanate-based material that responds remarkably well to electric fields, making it ideal for applications in medical ultrasound, precision actuators, and energy harvesting. By incorporating erbium into the material’s structure, the team achieved a record-breaking efficiency in converting electrical energy into mechanical motion at relatively low voltages, surpassing existing technologies. This breakthrough paves the way for more efficient, cost-effective smart materials with wide-ranging industrial and healthcare applications.

Congratulations to Dr Hangfeng Zhang and Zilong Li (first and second authors) and our multidisciplinary research team from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, and the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary University of London.