The purpose of this review is to detail the current theoretical understanding of the origin of piezoelectric and ferroelectric phenomena in polymers;to present the state-of-the-art in piezoelectric polymers and emerging material systems that exhibit promising properties;and to discuss key characterization methods

fundamental modeling approaches

and applications of piezoelectric polymers.Piezoelectric polymers have been known to exist for more than forty years

but in recent years they have gained notoriety as a valuable class of smart materials.