Excellent energy storage performance achieved in novel PbHfO3-based antiferroelectric ceramics via grain size engineering

Incremental attention has been paid to the PbHfO3-based antiferroelectric ceramics for its giant potential in dielectric capacitors and pulsed power techniques. Here, ultrahigh energy storage properties (Wrec = 12.2 J cm−3, η = 92%) and satisfied charge–discharge property (WD = 5.3 J cm−3, t0.9 = 103 ns, PD = 245 MW cm−3) are achieved in the Pb0.98La0.02 (Hf0.65Sn0.35)0.995O3 antiferroelectric ceramics. In addition, the studied ceramics also exhibited superior thermal stability within 20–120 °C (Wrec > 8 J cm−3, with minimal variation < 0.5 %). Outstanding energy storage properties can be explained by refined grain size, disrupted local structure, which is confirmed by ceramic morphology, Raman spectrum and polarization hysteresis. All these features greatly promote the application of PbHfO3-based ceramics in energy storage fields.