Physical Transformation AtlasPTA
Phenomenon · phenomenon:thermopolarization-effect

Thermopolarization effect

Polarization induced by a spatial temperature gradient in an insulating or polar dielectric medium. In solids this includes the historical 'proper thermopolarization' response — the direct ∇T → P contribution after separating pyroelectric and thermomechanical / flexoelectric contributions; in polar molecular liquids the same macroscopic ∇T → polarization coupling appears through non-equilibrium molecular orientation and multipolar response (Bresme and co-workers, simulation only). Thermally induced flexoelectric or pyroelectric responses remain distinct causal mechanisms: thermopolarization names the measured ∇T-induced polarization, not a unique microscopic mechanism — Iwakiri et al. 2026 attribute their measured component to thermomechanical flexoelectricity because its magnitude scales with thermal expansion and a strain-gradient FEM reproduces the observations, while the historical 'proper' effect is the direct residual response distinguished from that tertiary / flexoelectric contribution.

Condensed matterfirst reported 1969also: thermopolarization, thermal polarization effect, proper thermopolarization, temperature-gradient-induced polarization

Atlas record: 4 claims reference this phenomenon — 2 reported, 1 established and 1 theoretically predicted.

Explorerelations · matrix context · routes · sources · cite

conditions: dielectric required · temperature gradient required
4claims20enumerated routes0routes with complete-composition evidence0candidate routes not searched9cited sources

Relations

drives · 2
Temperature gradient—drives→Thermopolarization effectreported
  • a spatial temperature gradient is applied across an insulating solid dielectric
  • this claim represents the direct thermopolarization contribution; a signal established to arise through thermal expansion → strain gradient → flexoelectricity belongs to that longer pathway instead
  • the solid spelling; the polar-liquid spelling is claim:temperature-drives-liquid-thermopolarization, with its own (simulation) evidence
P_i = γ_ij ∇_j T · thermopolarization coefficient γ [C/(m K)]
Temperature gradient—drives→Thermopolarization effecttheoretically predicted
  • a polar molecular liquid is maintained under a spatial temperature gradient
  • the response is the non-equilibrium polarization / electrostatic field of the liquid itself, not ionic thermodiffusion and not the pyroelectric response of an already ordered ferroelectric fluid (Máthé et al. 2022's ferroelectric-nematic thermomotor is that other coupling)
  • simulation only: no experiment has measured the polarization of an ordinary polar liquid under a temperature gradient (pass 32 web search, not a route-search-v1 negative)
E_∥ = S_TP ∇T · liquid thermopolarization coefficient S_TP [V/K]
produces · 1
Thermopolarization effect—produces→Separated surface chargereported
  • the induced bulk polarization terminates at a surface or electrode as bound / screening charge; modulating the gradient produces a displacement / polarization current
  • the solid, electroded dielectric of the 1982–1994 measurements; the polar-liquid spelling has no charge-collection evidence (the simulations report bulk polarization and electrostatic potential) and does not inherit this sink
member of · 1
Thermopolarization effect—member of→Thermopolarizationestablished

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.01 × C.40 · Temperature gradient × Thermopolarization · DemonstratedD.01 × C.40 · Temperature gradient × Thermopolarization · Demonstrated
family: Thermopolarization (C.40)

Enumerated routes through this · 20

Cited sources · 9

  1. [1]
    A. L. Kholkin, V. A. Trepakov, G. A. Smolenskii. Thermopolarization currents in dielectrics (1982)
    JETP Letters 35 (3), 124–127 (Pis'ma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 35, 103–106) · www.jetpletters.ru/ps/1313/article_19837.shtml · record
  2. [2]
    V. A. Trepakov, K. M. Nurieva, A. K. Tagantsev. Recent developments of the thermopolarization effect investigation (1989)
    Ferroelectrics 94, 377–381 · doi:10.1080/00150198908014283 · record
  3. [3]
    E. Rafikov et al.. Frequency and temperature dependence of the thermopolarization response in dynamic investigations (1994)
    physica status solidi (a) 144, 471–477 · doi:10.1002/pssa.2211440228 · record
  4. [4]
    A. K. Tagantsev. Pyroelectric, piezoelectric, flexoelectric, and thermal polarization effects in ionic crystals (1987)
    Soviet Physics Uspekhi 30, 588–603 · doi:10.1070/PU1987v030n07ABEH002926 · record
  5. [5]
    M. Marvan. The electric polarization induced by temperature gradient and associated thermoelectric effects (1969)
    Czechoslovak Journal of Physics B 19, 1240–1245 · doi:10.1007/bf01690309 · record
  6. [6]
    Y. Onishi et al.. Theory of Thermopolarization Effect (2025)
    Nano Letters 25, 2763–2768 · doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c05870 · record
  7. [7]
    F. Bresme et al.. Water Polarization under Thermal Gradients (2008)
    Physical Review Letters 101, 020602 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.020602 · record
  8. [8]
    J. Armstrong, F. Bresme. Temperature inversion of the thermal polarization of water (2015)
    Physical Review E 92, 060103 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.92.060103 · record
  9. [9]
    O. R. Gittus, P. Albella, F. Bresme. Polarization of acetonitrile under thermal fields via non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations (2020)
    The Journal of Chemical Physics 153, 204503 · doi:10.1063/5.0025148 · record

Cite this entity

Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). entity phenomenon:thermopolarization-effect: Thermopolarization effect. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/phenomenon/thermopolarization-effect

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