Boosting capacitive energy storage in relaxor ferroelectrics through polymorphic phase engineering.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41719387.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aeb7173 and PMC identifier 12922721.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Relaxor ferroelectric materials are promising for next-generation capacitors due to their high energy storage capacity. Polymorphic phase engineering, where different ferroelectric phases coexist, has been widely demonstrated as an effective approach to further boost capacitive energy storage performance of relaxor ferroelectrics, but the reasons for these improvements and how they compare to single-phase systems remain unclear. Here, taking dendrite-like PbZr<sub>1-<i>x</i></sub>Ti<i><sub>x</sub></i>O<sub>3</sub>/MgO nanocomposites with defected as a model system, we systematically examine properties and capacitive energy storage performance for rhombohedral-dominant, rhombohedral/tetragonal-mixed, and tetragonal-dominant phases through phase-field simulations. We find that the rhombohedral/tetragonal mixtures deliver the best results in most cases, mainly due to their low switching barriers and substantial local inhomogeneity. These results offer a detailed view of improved energy storage in relaxor ferroelectrics and provide theoretical guidance for designing high-performance capacitors.