Optimization Strategies for Boosting Ceramic Materials Based on Sodium Niobate

Abstract

Abstract: Lead-free antiferroelectric (AFE) ceramics based on sodium niobate (NaNbO3, NN) have drawn garnered interest due to their remarkable energy storage capacity. However, The practical applications of pure NN ceramics have been largely constrained by their high loss energy density (Wloss) and low breakdown electric field (Eb) resulting from the field-induced AFE-ferroelectric (FE) phase transition. To address these issues, Bi and Ti were introduced into the A- and B-sites of the NN ceramic chalcogenide structure, respectively. After that, Ta element was doped into the B-site of (Na0.86Bi0.14)(Nb0.9Ti0.1)O3 samples, which effectively improved the energy storage capacity of sodium niobate ceramics. Finally, good energy storage properties (with Wrec approximately 2.41 J·cm-3 and an efficiency of about 90.88%) of (Na0.86Bi0.14)(Nb0.75Ta0.15Ti0.1)O3 ceramic were obtained via compositional modification under conditions of a breakdown electric field (Eb = 206.92 kV·cm-1). Therefore, the results of this study reveal that the introduction of tantalum into antiferroelectric ceramics is a vible method to improve their dielectric energy storage capacity.

Keywords: NaNbO3, Lead free ceramics, Antiferroelectric properties, Relaxation properties