Giant Energy-Storage Density and Thermally Activated Phase Transition in (Pb_0.96La_0.04)(Zr_0.99Ti_0.01)O₃ Antiferroelectric Ceramics

Antiferroelectric materials are regarded as potential energy storage materials due to their superior energy density during the antiferroelectric to ferroelectric phase transition. Nevertheless, their unsatisfactory energy density limits their application in practice. Herein, (Pb0.96La0.04)(Zr0.99Ti0.01)O3 (PLZT) antiferroelectric ceramics are prepared via a tape-casting technique. Interestingly, the tape-casting technique can improve the ceramic microstructure, which leads to breakdown strengths ranging from 336 kV/cm for a solid state reaction to 400 kV/cm for tape-casting. A giant recoverable energy density of 11.38 J/cm3 is realized at 395 kV/cm. Meanwhile, for PLZT ceramics, a high discharge energy density of 6.2 J/cm3 and fast discharge speed (t0.9 = 69 ns) are achieved simultaneously under 350 kV/cm. Furthermore, the thermally activated antiferroelectric behavior is observed in P–E loops, and a high energy density of 8.3 J/cm3 is realized at 60 °C and 310 kV/cm. Therefore, these excellent properties demonstrate that PLZT antiferroelectric materials are a potential candidate in advanced power electronic devices.