• • Flexoelectricity is markedly enhanced in ferroelectrics due to their large dielectric effect, enabling significant polarization under strain gradients, which is critical for micro- and nanoscale devices where piezoelectricity diminishes.
• • Unlike piezoelectricity, flexoelectricity does not require an external electric field for polarization alignment, enhancing operational stability and mitigating issues such as aging, breakdown, and depolarization.
• • Flexoelectricity is independent of unit cell symmetry, broadening the functional response of ferroelectric materials and providing a new physical mechanism for multi-scale regulation.
• • The review highlights that flexoelectricity is typically much higher in micro- and nanostructures (e.g., thin films, nanowires) than in bulk, effectively overcoming the limitations of piezoelectricity at small dimensions.