Syntheses,structures, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of a chiral coordination compound with m-nitro-benzoic acid

One polar noncentrosymmetric complex, Zn(phen)(H₂O)₂L]L (HL = m-nitro-benzoic acid, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) has been prepared and characterized. The title complex is crystallized in a noncentrosymmetric space group P2₁. The compound is a typical ferroelectric and its electric hysteresis loop shows a remnant polarization (P _r) of ca. 0.04?μC?cm^?2 and coercive field (E _c) of 1.26?V/cm. It may be a potential ferroelectric with a relatively large spontaneous polarization (P _s) of 0.11?μC?cm^?2. Moreover, permittivity property measurements reveal a dielectric constant (? _r) of 5.63 and dielectric loss (tan δ) of 2.5%.