Ultrahigh Energy-Storage Density in Antiferroelectric Ceramics with Field-Induced Multiphase Transitions

The excellent energy-storage performance of ceramic capacitors, such as high-power density, fast discharge speed, and the ability to operate over a broad temperature range, gives rise to their wide applications in different energy-storage devices. In this work, the (Pb0.98La0.02)(Zr0.55Sn0.45)0.995O3 (PLZS) antiferroelectric (AFE) ceramics are prepared via a unique rolling machine approach. The field-induced multiphase transitions are observed in polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis loops. All the PLZS AFE ceramics possess high energy-storage densities and discharge efficiency (above 80%) with different sintering temperatures. Of particular significance is that an ultrahigh recoverable energy-storage density of 10.4 J cm-3 and a high discharge efficiency of 87% are achieved at 40 kV mm-1 for PLZS ceramic with a thickness of 0.11 mm, sintered at 1175 °C, which are by far the highest values ever reported in bulk ceramics. Moreover, the corresponding ceramics exhibit a superior discharge current density of 1640 A cm-2 and ultrafast discharge speed (75 ns discharge period). This great improvement in energy-storage performance is expected to expand the practical applications of dielectric ceramics in numerous electronic devices.