Materials exhibiting high energy/power density are currently needed to meet the growing demand of portable electronics, electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage devices. The highest energy densities are achieved for fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors, but conventional dielectric capacitors are receiving increased attention for pulsed power applications due to their high power density and their fast charge-discharge speed. The key to high energy density in dielectric capacitors is a large maximum but small remanent (zero in the case of linear dielectrics) polarization and a high electric breakdown strength. Polymer dielectric capacitors offer high power/energy density for applications at room temperature, but above 100 °C they are unreliable and suffer from dielectric breakdown. For high-temperature applications, therefore, dielectric ceramics are the only feasible alternative. Lead-based ceramics such as La-doped lead zirconate titanate exhibit good energy storage properties, but their toxicity raises concern over their use in consumer applications, where capacitors are exclusively lead free. Lead-free compositions with superior power density are thus required. In this paper, we introduce the fundamental principles of energy storage in dielectrics. We discuss key factors to improve energy storage properties such as the control of local structure, phase assemblage, dielectric layer thickness, microstructure, conductivity, and electrical homogeneity through the choice of base systems, dopants, and alloying additions, followed by a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art. Finally, we comment on the future requirements for new materials in high power/energy density capacitor applications.

Electroceramics for High-Energy Density Capacitors: Current Status and Future Perspectives

Compared with fuel cells and electrochemical capacitors, dielectric capacitors are regarded as promising devices to store electrical energy for pulsed power systems due to their fast charge/discharge rates and ultrahigh power density. Dielectric materials are core components of dielectric capacitors and directly determine their performance. Over the past decade, extensive efforts have been devoted to develop high-performance dielectric materials for electrical energy storage applications and great progress has been achieved. Here, we present an overview on the current state-of-the-art lead-free bulk ceramics for electrical energy storage applications, including SrTiO3, CaTiO3, BaTiO3, (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3, (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3, BiFeO3, AgNbO3 and NaNbO3-based ceramics. This review starts with a brief introduction of the research background, the development history and the basic fundamentals of dielectric materials for energy storage applications as well as the universal strategies to optimize their energy storage performance. Emphases are placed on the design strategies for each type of dielectric ceramic based on their special physical properties with a summary of their respective advantages and disadvantages. Challenges along with future prospects are presented at the end of this review. This review will not only accelerate the exploration of higher performance lead-free dielectric materials, but also provides a deeper understanding of the relationship among chemical composition, physical properties and energy storage performance.

High-performance lead-free bulk ceramics for electrical energy storage applications: design strategies and challenges

High-temperature dielectric ceramics are in urgent demand due to the rapid development of numerous emerging applications. However, producing dielectric ceramics with favorable temperature, frequency and electric field stability is still a huge challenge. The construction of multi-phase coexistence material systems is an effective way to obtain stable dielectric and energy storage properties. In this work, NaNbO3 (NN) modified 0.95Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3–0.05SrZrO3 (BNTSZ) ceramics ((1 − x)BNTSZ–xNN) are designed to achieve the coexistence of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases. The variation in the dielectric permittivity of the 0.8BNTSZ–0.2NN ceramic is less than ±15% over the temperature range from −55 °C to 545 °C, which is the reported record-high upper operating temperature, with a high room-temperature dielectric permittivity of 1170. The 0.8BNTSZ–0.2NN ceramic exhibits excellent frequency and electric field stability as well. Additionally, a large discharge energy density of 3.14 J cm−3 is obtained in the 0.85BNTSZ–0.15NN ceramic with an energy efficiency of 79% at a high temperature of 120 °C under 230 kV cm−1, with the variation in the discharge energy density being less than ±4% in the temperature range from 25 °C to 180 °C under 120 kV cm−1. All these features demonstrate that the (1 − x)BNTSZ–xNN ceramics are promising candidates for use at extremely high temperature in both dielectric and energy storage capacitor applications.

High temperature lead-free BNT-based ceramics with stable energy storage and dielectric properties

Colossal Permittivity Materials as Superior Dielectrics for Diverse Applications

Energy storage materials and their applications have attracted attention among both academic and industrial communities. Over the past few decades, extensive efforts have been put on the development of lead-free high-performance dielectric capacitors. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the research progress of lead-free dielectric ceramics for energy storage, including ferroelectric ceramics, composite ceramics, and multilayer capacitors. The results indicate that dielectric capacitors with both high energy density and high efficiency are feasible using the materials providing high breakdown electric field and a slim hysteresis loop. This article also lists the factors affecting the fabrication cost of dielectric capacitors, such as sintering temperature, raw material costs, and types of internal electrodes, to promote the industrial application of ceramic energy storage capacitors.

A review on the development of lead-free ferroelectric energy-storage ceramics and multilayer capacitors

Superior comprehensive energy storage properties in Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-based relaxor ferroelectric ceramics

Regulation of energy density and efficiency in transparent ceramics by grain refinement

A series of (1-x)K0.5Na0.5NbO3-xBa(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 ((1-x)KNN-xBZN) nanostructural ceramics was successfully synthesised via solid-state reactions. These nanostructural ceramics exhibited high energy storage density compared with pure KNN ceramics. Further analysis of their dielectric/ferroelectric properties and structures revealed that the addition of BZN alloy disrupted the long-range order of the ferroelectric lattice of pure KNN and favoured the formation of ferroelectric islands and/or polar nano-regions. Consequently, the nanostructured ceramic with x = 0.05 exhibited ultrahigh energy storage density, W, of approximately 9.14 J/cm3 and recoverable energy storage density, Wrec, of approximately 4.87 J/cm3 under a fairly low applied electrical field (220 kV/cm). These values exceed the highest values ever reported for KNN-based bulk ceramics. In addition, both excellent fatigue endurance (105 cycles) and temperature stability (Δe'/e100°C

Zhanhui Peng

Papers

Superior comprehensive energy storage properties in Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-based relaxor ferroelectric ceramics

Regulation of energy density and efficiency in transparent ceramics by grain refinement

Ultrahigh storage density achieved with (1-x)KNN-xBZN ceramics

Grain boundary engineering that induces ultrahigh permittivity and decreased dielectric loss in CdCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

Origin of colossal permittivity and low dielectric loss in Na1/3Cd1/3Y1/3Cu3Ti4O12 ceramics