Structural Phase Transition and In-Situ Energy Storage Pathway in Nonpolar Materials: A Review

Abstract

Benefitting from exceptional energy storage performance, dielectric-based capacitors are playing increasingly important roles in advanced electronics and high-power electrical systems. Nevertheless, a series of unresolved structural puzzles represent obstacles to further improving the energy storage performance. Compared with ferroelectrics and linear dielectrics, antiferroelectric materials have unique advantages in unlocking these puzzles due to the inherent coupling of structural transitions with the energy storage process. In this review, we summarize the most recent studies about in-situ structural phase transitions in PbZrO3-based and NaNbO3-based systems. In the context of the ultrahigh energy storage density of SrTiO3-based capacitors, we highlight the necessity of extending the concept of antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric (AFE-to-FE) transition to broader antiferrodistortive-to-ferrodistortive (AFD-to-FD) transition for materials that are simultaneously ferroelastic. Combining discussion of the factors driving ferroelectricity, electric-field-driven metal-to-insulator transition in a (La1−xSrx)MnO3 electrode is emphasized to determine the role of ionic migration in improving the storage performance. We believe that this review, aiming at depicting a clearer structure–property relationship, will be of benefit for researchers who wish to carry out cutting-edge structure and energy storage exploration.

Progress on Emerging Ferroelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting, Storage and Conversion

“…[174] Single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that polar distortion of the PbI 6 octahedra (Figure 6c), with off-center Pb shift, is responsible for presence of the intrinsic ferroelectricity. [100,175,176] The octahedral distortion driven FE origin is consistent with the robust ferroelectricity (P S = 16.13 μC cm −2 ) identified in N(CH 3 ) 4 SnI 3 , in which the N(CH 3 ) 4…”

“…1) As exemplified by PbZrO 3 -, SrTiO 3 -, and NBT-BT-based systems, exploring cross-scale characterization and transient structural transitions under in-situ biasing conditions [100] represent two significant directions for dielectric capacitor research. Although the physical processes dominate, electrochemical activities relating to ionic migration via defects and interfaces [126] should play important roles in improving the storage performance of the dielectric capacitors.…”

“…[98,99] During dynamic structural changes, a transient ferrielectric phase is discovered in [001] O -oriented PbZrO 3 between the AFE phase and FE monoclinic/rhombohedral phases. With preservation of antiparallel Pb displacements, ferrodistortive (FD) distortion [100] of oxygen octahedra gives rise to a cycloidal order of polarization in the ferrielectric phase (Figure 3e,f). In ABO 3 perovskites, a steric linkage of BO 6 framework usually constrains octahedral rotations to have equal magnitudes but opposite sense in a plane, thereby preserving inversion symmetry.…”

“…[106] Copyright 2019, American Physical Society. i-k) ABF-STEM image overlaid by Pb- [100] O displacements, tilting and distortion map of BO 6 octahedra and y-direction rippling map of O sublattices in [001] C -oriented Pb 0.97 La 0.02 (Zr 0.50 Sn x Ti 0.50-x )O 3 (PLZST 50/45/5), respectively. Reproduced according to the terms of the CC-BY license.…”

“…[ 174 ] Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction reveals that polar distortion of the PbI 6 octahedra (Figure 6c), with off‐center Pb shift, is responsible for presence of the intrinsic ferroelectricity. [ 100,175,176 ]…”