PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHT · 2026 · Nanobiophotonics Group
Jan K. Zaręba is a corresponding author of a study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society that investigates the microscopic origin of ferroelectric switching in a two-dimensional copper-based metal–organic framework (MOF).
Electrical measurements and piezoresponse force microscopy established switchable polarization. First-principles calculations identified a mechanism in which two nitrate ions move together and reorganize bonding around the copper centre, reversing the direction of the electric dipole.
The authors also incorporated the material into flexible polymer composites to test piezoelectric energy harvesting. The study connects a specific ion-displacement mechanism with the measured electrical response, providing a basis for designing related molecular ferroelectrics.
Publication
Neetu Prajesh, Vikash Kushwaha, Chandan K. Singh, Vijay Bhan Sharma, Balu Praveenkumar, Alexander Steiner, Maciej Ptak, Dinesh Kabra, Jan K. Zaręba, Ramamoorthy Boomishankar. Ferroelectricity through Reversible Anion-Relay Polarization Switching in a Two-Dimensional Metal–Organic Framework. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2026).