Asymmetry of the Ferroelectric Phase Transition in BaTiO 3 (Adv. Mater. 25/2026)

Ferroelectric Phase Transition in BaTiO3 Phase transitions are typically assumed to behave identically in forward and reverse. This work shows that in the ferroelectric material barium titanate this is not true: heating drives an abrupt, first-order jump, while cooling gives a smooth, continuous change. This surprising asymmetry challenges standard classifications of phase transitions and opens new strategies to design novel energy-storage devices. More details can be found in the Research Article by Yachin Ivry and co-workers (DOI: 10.1002/adma.202516507).