Softening of antiferroelectric order in a novel PbZrO3-based solid solution for energy storage

PbZrO3-based antiferroelectric (AFE) materials have received growing attention for their attractive energy storage performance. However, a major drawback of PZ is its high critical electric field (E-cr) which makes it difficult to switch the antiparallel dipoles therein so as to be useful. Therefore, softening of AFE order in PbZrO3 is thought to be a promising approach for its practical applications. In this work, a new binary AFE solid solution of (1-x)PbZrO3-xPb(Mg1/2Mo1/2)O-3 (PZ-PMM), with x = 0.00-0.10, was successfully synthesized in form of ceramics via the solid-state reaction method. The effect of chemical modification by introducing Pb(Mg1/2Mo1/2)O-3 on the crystal structure, phase transition behavior and electrical properties of the PbZrO3 ceramics are investigated systemically. It is found that a perovskite phase with orthorhombic Pbam symmetry is preserved at room temperature for all the compositions studied, and a broadened ferroelectric intermediate phase exists between the paraelectric (PE) and the antiferroelectric phases of the PZ-PMM solid solution. At 160 degrees C, typical double hysteresis loop can be displayed for all the compositions. Most importantly, the maximum electric field-induced polarization is significantly increased, whereas the critical field is decreased with increasing PMM content, suggesting a remarkable softening effect of the antiferroelectric order in PZ due to some degree of dipole frustration. This work could bring about the development of a new series of PZ-based solid solutions for energy storage applications in the future.