Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-based energy storage ceramics with excellent comprehensive performance by constructing dynamic nanoscale domains and high intrinsic breakdown strength

Lead-free ceramic-based dielectric capacitors show huge potential in electrical energy storage in pulsed power systems due to their fast charge/discharge rate, ultrahigh power density and environmental friendliness. However, unsatisfied charge/discharge performance characterized by inferior recoverable energy storage density (Wrec generally <5 J/cm3) has become a key bottleneck to restrict their applications in cutting-edge energy storage devices. In this paper, we focus on simultaneously realizing ultrahigh Wrec and efficiency (ƞ) in eco-friendly Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 (BNT)-based dielectric ceramics via chemical doping. Interestingly, highly dynamic polar nanoregions (PNRs) and nanodomains are constructed by incorporating Sr0.7Nd0.2TiO3 (SNT) into 0.94BNT-0.06BaTiO3. Of great importance, the resulting relaxor ferroelectrics (RFEs) exhibit high bulk resistivity, submicron grain size and wide band gap due to high level of SNT doping accompanying with 1 at. % Nb donor doping. Therefore, excellent energy storage properties with ultrahigh Wrec∼8.08 J/cm3 and ƞ∼92.1% are achieved due to coexistence of large polarization difference (ΔP=Pmax−Pr) and giant dielectric breakdown electric field (Eb∼540 kV/cm). Furthermore, excellent temperature/frequency/cycling stability characterized by ΔWrec < ±4% and Δη < ±2% ensure the energy storage applications of the studied dielectric ceramics over an enormous range of scales.