Collaborative design of polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations in high energy capacitive relaxor ferroelectrics

Abstract Lead-free relaxor ferroelectrics have been regarded as superior candidates for dielectric energy storage applications. Nonetheless, the degradation of energy storage performance resulted from the trade-off between high polarization and low hysteresis in RFEs under superhigh electric fields...

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Main Authors: Kun Wei, Jianhong Duan, He Qi, Linzhao Ma, Qianbiao Du, Huifen Yu, Haoyu Wang, Xiaoming Shi, Gaosheng Li, Zhikang Shuai, Hao Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-08-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62335-3
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author Kun Wei
Jianhong Duan
He Qi
Linzhao Ma
Qianbiao Du
Huifen Yu
Haoyu Wang
Xiaoming Shi
Gaosheng Li
Zhikang Shuai
Hao Li
author_facet Kun Wei
Jianhong Duan
He Qi
Linzhao Ma
Qianbiao Du
Huifen Yu
Haoyu Wang
Xiaoming Shi
Gaosheng Li
Zhikang Shuai
Hao Li
author_sort Kun Wei
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Lead-free relaxor ferroelectrics have been regarded as superior candidates for dielectric energy storage applications. Nonetheless, the degradation of energy storage performance resulted from the trade-off between high polarization and low hysteresis in RFEs under superhigh electric fields has become a bottleneck. Here, a chemical framework is established based on NaNbO3-based RFEs, bridging atomic-scale structural control to realize excellent energy storage performance. The framework design leads to unique local lattice distortion with both inhomogeneous polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations, including locally disordered polarization distribution, continuous polarization deflection and the co-existence of ordered and disordered oxygen octahedral tilts, as confirmed by phase-field simulation and scanning transmission electron microscopy. As a result, negligible polarization switching hysteresis as well as the large and delayed saturated polarization simultaneously contribute to the excellent energy storage performance. For instance, two NaNbO3-based RFEs with different compositions show ultrahigh recoverable energy densities of 16.48 and 20.08 J cm-3, respectively, as well as near-zero energy loss (η ~ 90.38% and 95.09%). This work presents new avenues toward designing high-performance lead-free RFEs.
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spelling doaj-art-c0c3baaddc0f4dc7869b615cf4c5cd522025-08-24T11:38:23ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-08-0116111010.1038/s41467-025-62335-3Collaborative design of polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations in high energy capacitive relaxor ferroelectricsKun Wei0Jianhong Duan1He Qi2Linzhao Ma3Qianbiao Du4Huifen Yu5Haoyu Wang6Xiaoming Shi7Gaosheng Li8Zhikang Shuai9Hao Li10College of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan UniversityCollege of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Hainan UniversityCollege of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan UniversityCollege of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan UniversityBeijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Science and Technology BeijingDepartment of Physics, University of Science and Technology BeijingDepartment of Physics, University of Science and Technology BeijingCollege of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan UniversityCollege of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan UniversityCollege of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan UniversityAbstract Lead-free relaxor ferroelectrics have been regarded as superior candidates for dielectric energy storage applications. Nonetheless, the degradation of energy storage performance resulted from the trade-off between high polarization and low hysteresis in RFEs under superhigh electric fields has become a bottleneck. Here, a chemical framework is established based on NaNbO3-based RFEs, bridging atomic-scale structural control to realize excellent energy storage performance. The framework design leads to unique local lattice distortion with both inhomogeneous polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations, including locally disordered polarization distribution, continuous polarization deflection and the co-existence of ordered and disordered oxygen octahedral tilts, as confirmed by phase-field simulation and scanning transmission electron microscopy. As a result, negligible polarization switching hysteresis as well as the large and delayed saturated polarization simultaneously contribute to the excellent energy storage performance. For instance, two NaNbO3-based RFEs with different compositions show ultrahigh recoverable energy densities of 16.48 and 20.08 J cm-3, respectively, as well as near-zero energy loss (η ~ 90.38% and 95.09%). This work presents new avenues toward designing high-performance lead-free RFEs.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62335-3
spellingShingle Kun Wei
Jianhong Duan
He Qi
Linzhao Ma
Qianbiao Du
Huifen Yu
Haoyu Wang
Xiaoming Shi
Gaosheng Li
Zhikang Shuai
Hao Li
Collaborative design of polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations in high energy capacitive relaxor ferroelectrics
Nature Communications
title Collaborative design of polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations in high energy capacitive relaxor ferroelectrics
title_full Collaborative design of polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations in high energy capacitive relaxor ferroelectrics
title_fullStr Collaborative design of polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations in high energy capacitive relaxor ferroelectrics
title_full_unstemmed Collaborative design of polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations in high energy capacitive relaxor ferroelectrics
title_short Collaborative design of polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations in high energy capacitive relaxor ferroelectrics
title_sort collaborative design of polarization and antiferrodistortion configurations in high energy capacitive relaxor ferroelectrics
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62335-3
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