Piezoelectric Behavior in Quasicrystalline Materials
Summary
Quasicrystalline materials exhibit long-range order without periodic repetition, combining symmetries forbidden in conventional crystals with unique electronic and mechanical characteristics. Their aperiodic structure gives rise to two distinct displacement fields: the ordinary elastic (phonon) field and an additional internal (phason) field associated with rearrangements of atomic clusters. Piezoelectricity in quasicrystals emerges from coupling between these fields and electric polarisation under mechanical stress. Unlike conventional piezoelectrics, quasicrystals can display asymmetric tensorial responses, novel electromechanical coupling modes and size‐dependent effects at the nanoscale. The interplay of phonon–phason dynamics underpins unusual electromechanical resonance, enhanced energy harvesting potential and robustness in harsh environments. Practical applications span precision actuators, high‐temperature sensors and adaptive metamaterials that exploit nonlocal and surface‐driven phenomena. Advances in theoretical modelling, materials synthesis and nanostructuring continue to expand the functional scope of piezoelectric quasicrystals, highlighting their global significance in next‐generation smart devices.
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Piezoelectric Behavior in Quasicrystalline Materials publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in piezoelectric behavior in quasicrystalline materials across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Quasicrystal: A solid with long‐range order but no periodic translational symmetry, exhibiting non‐crystallographic rotational symmetries.
Piezoelectricity: The property of certain materials to generate electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress (and vice versa).
Phonon: A quantised mode of lattice vibration representing collective elastic oscillations.
Phason: An internal mode in quasicrystals corresponding to rearrangements of atomic motifs, distinct from conventional lattice vibrations.
Constitutive relation: A mathematical description linking stress, strain, electric field and displacement in a material under electromechanical loading.
References
- On the Constitutive Modelling of Piezoelectric Quasicrystals. Crystals (2023).
- Surface effects on a mode-III reinforced nano-elliptical hole embedded in one-dimensional hexagonal piezoelectric quasicrystals. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (2021).
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