Structural disorder induced enhancement of dielectric energy storage performance in lead-free ceramics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54355/tbusphys/30070147.4.3.2026.0057Keywords:
lead-free ceramics, structural disorder, dielectric energy storage, relaxor ferroelectrics, polarization behavior, dielectric breakdown strengthAbstract
The development of lead-free dielectric ceramics with simultaneously high recoverable energy density, high energy-storage efficiency, and excellent operational stability remains a significant challenge for advanced electrostatic capacitors. In this work, the influence of controlled structural disorder on the structural evolution, dielectric response, polarization behavior, and energy-storage performance of lead-free ceramics was systematically investigated. Ceramic samples with different levels of compositional disorder were synthesized using a conventional solid-state reaction route and characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, dielectric spectroscopy, and polarization measurements under high electric fields. The results demonstrated that increasing structural disorder refined the grain structure, enhanced lattice distortion, and promoted the transition from normal ferroelectric to relaxor behavior. The optimized composition exhibited the highest maximum polarization of approximately 52 μC cm⁻² together with a low remanent polarization of about 3 μC cm⁻², resulting in a recoverable polarization difference of nearly 49 μC cm⁻². Owing to the combined effects of improved polarization reversibility and enhanced dielectric breakdown strength approaching 480 kV cm⁻¹, a recoverable energy density of approximately 5.8 J cm⁻³ and an energy-storage efficiency close to 89% were achieved. Furthermore, the optimized ceramic maintained stable energy-storage characteristics over a wide temperature range and under different operating frequencies, indicating excellent thermal and frequency stability. These findings demonstrate that controlled structural disorder is an effective strategy for simultaneously optimizing polarization reversibility, dielectric breakdown strength, and dielectric energy-storage performance, providing a promising pathway for the design of high-performance lead-free dielectric ceramics for advanced pulse power and electrostatic energy-storage applications.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Alexey Fedorov
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