The mechanism of pyroelectricity in polar material hemimorphite

It is known that a crystal structure and symmetry determine the physical properties of materials. Lattice distortion can strongly affect the symmetry of the crystal structure. Polar materials show changes in polarization with temporal fluctuations of temperature due to the asymmetry. As a polar crystal, hemimorphite shows excellent pyroelectric properties. However, to date, there are a few studies on its intrinsic physical properties, and the mechanism of its pyroelectricity remains unclear. In this paper, single-crystal x-ray diffraction measurement was carried out to obtain the atomic positions at 100–400 K. Furthermore, the electric dipole moments of [ZnO4] and [SiO4] polyhedrons along a, b, and c axes have been calculated. The calculated pyroelectric coefficient derived from the intrinsic electric dipole moment was compared with the experimental measurement. The results indicate that the pyroelectric coefficients of hemimorphite at different temperatures mainly come from the variation of the electric dipole moment of [ZnO4] and [SiO4] polyhedrons along the c axis. The electric dipole moment changes as a function of temperature from 100 to 400 K, which is induced by the random lattice distortion. It is found that pyroelectricity is strongly correlated with the random lattice distortion. The establishment of the relationship between lattice distortion and pyroelectricity helps us to regulate the specific electrical parameters of the material, which may lead to future work in energy harvesting and further properties.