Effects of Ti-doping on energy storage properties and cycling stability of Pb0.925La0.05ZrO3 antiferroelectric thin films

• The superior energy storage properties of Pb 0.925 La 0.05 Zr 1- x Ti x O 3 antiferroelectric thin films in Zr rich were obtained. • In Zr-rich region, the saturation polarization strengthens of PLZT with increasing Ti content due to change of ion-radius, and the switching field decreased which means the enhancement of ferroelectricity. • The co-doped PLZT films possessed higher breakdown strength, which greatly optimized the energy storage properties. • The high recoverable energy density of 49.7 J/cm 3 and efficiency of 54% were obtained in the Pb 0.925 La 0.05 Zr 0.985 Ti 0.015 O 3 film. Pb 0.925 La 0.05 Zr 1- x Ti x O 3 (PLZT, x = 0.5%∼5.5%) thin film were fabricated on Pt(1 1 1)/TiO 2 /SiO 2 /Si substrates by sol–gel method. In the Zr-rich region, the saturation polarization strengthens with increasing Ti content due to the change of ion-radius. On the other hand, the switching field decreases, which means the enhancement of ferroelectricity. The phase structure and polarization of the films can be tuned by a small amount of Ti doping, and then the energy storage characteristics of the thin films can be modulated. The results showed that a large energy storage density ( W rec ) of 49.7 J/cm 3 and efficiency ( η ) of 54% were achieved in the x = 1.5%. Moreover, the x = 1.5% sample displayed excellent cycling stability up to 1 × 10 6 cyclings, which demonstrated that La and Ti co-doped films can be considered as potential candidates for future energy storage devices.