Zwitterions Raise the Dielectric Constant of Soft Materials

Materials exhibiting high dielectric constants (εs) are critical for energy storage and actuators. A successful approach to increase εs by incorporating polar additives (with high εs) but controlling the resulting dispersion state is difficult. Here, we show that significant εs increases are realized by adding zwitterions, which are small molecules with a cation and an anion separated by covalent bonds. The increase in εs with zwitterion addition is attributed to the large molecular dipole of zwitterions, ranging from 35 to 41 D, as experimentally quantified, and confirmed using density functional theory. At elevated zwitterion concentration in an ethylene glycol medium, there is a non-linear increase of εs that eventually saturates due to the strong Coulombic interactions between zwitterions. The presented work provides a fundamental molecular understanding of why zwitterions are effective additives in boosting εs in soft materials.

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Work Title Zwitterions Raise the Dielectric Constant of Soft Materials
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Wenwen Mei
  2. August J. Rothenberger
  3. Joshua E. Bostwick
  4. Joshua M. Rinehart
  5. Robert J. Hickey
  6. Ralph H. Colby
License Public Domain Mark 1.0
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Physical Review Letters
Publication Date November 24, 2021
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.228001
Deposited January 02, 2022

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Version 1
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  • Created
  • Added Creator Ralph Colby
  • Added ZwitterionsinEG_final.pdf
  • Updated License Show Changes
    License
    • http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
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  • Updated Publisher, Publisher Identifier (DOI), Description Show Changes
    Publisher
    • Physical Review Letters
    Publisher Identifier (DOI)
    • https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.228001
    Description
    • Materials exhibiting high dielectric constants (ε_s) are critical for energy storage and actuators. A successful approach to increase ε_s by incorporating polar additives (with high ε_s) but controlling the resulting dispersion state is difficult. Here, we show that significant ε_s increases are realized by adding zwitterions, which are small molecules with a cation and an anion separated by covalent bonds. The increase in ε_s with zwitterion addition is attributed to the large molecular dipole of zwitterions, ranging from 35 to 41 Debye, as experimentally quantified, and confirmed using density functional theory. At elevated zwitterion concentration in an ethylene glycol medium, there is a non-linear increase of ε_s that eventually saturates due to the strong Coulombic interactions between zwitterions. The presented work provides a fundamental molecular understanding of why zwitterions are effective additives in boosting ε_s in soft materials.
    • Materials exhibiting high dielectric constants (εs) are critical for energy storage and actuators. A successful approach to increase εs by incorporating polar additives (with high εs) but controlling the resulting dispersion state is difficult. Here, we show that significant εs increases are realized by adding zwitterions, which are small molecules with a cation and an anion separated by covalent bonds. The increase in εs with zwitterion addition is attributed to the large molecular dipole of zwitterions, ranging from 35 to 41 D, as experimentally quantified, and confirmed using density functional theory. At elevated zwitterion concentration in an ethylene glycol medium, there is a non-linear increase of εs that eventually saturates due to the strong Coulombic interactions between zwitterions. The presented work provides a fundamental molecular understanding of why zwitterions are effective additives in boosting εs in soft materials.
  • Renamed Creator Ralph H. Colby Show Changes
    • Ralph Colby
    • Ralph H. Colby
  • Added Creator Wenwen Mei
  • Added Creator August J. Rothenberger
  • Added Creator Joshua E. Bostwick
  • Added Creator Joshua M. Rinehart
  • Added Creator Robert J. Hickey
  • Updated