Giant Energy Density via Mechanically Tailored Relaxor Ferroelectric Behavior of Pzt Thick Film.

Relaxor ferroelectrics (RFEs) are being actively investigated for energy storage applications due to their large electric-field-induced polarization with slim hysteresis and fast energy charging-discharging capability. Here, w e report a novel nanograin engineering approach based upon high kinetic energy deposition for mechanically inducing the RFE behavior in a normal ferroelectric Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 (PZT), which results in simultaneous enhancement in the dielectric breakdown strength (E DBS ) and polarization. Mechanically transformed relaxor thick films with 4 μm thickness exhibited an exceptional E DBS of 540 MV/m and reduced hysteresis with large unsaturated polarization (103.6 μC/cm 2 ), resulting in a record high energy storage density of 124.1 J/cm 3 and a power density of 64.5 MW/cm 3 . This fundamental advancement is correlated with the generalized nanostructure design that comprises of nanocrystalline phases embedded within the amorphous matrix. Microstructure-tailored ferroelectric behavior overcomes the limitations imposed by traditional compositional design methods and provides a feasible pathway for realization of high-performance energy storage materials. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.