Low temperature sintering of PLZST-based antiferroelectric ceramics with Al2O3 addition for energy storage applications

Antiferroelectric (AFE) materials have superior energy storage properties in high power multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). To adapt to the sintering temperature of inner metal electrodes with less palladium content, in this work, Al2O3 was added to Pb0.95Ta0.02Sr0.02(Zr0.50Sn0.10Ti0.10)O-3 (PLSZST) AFE ceramics, in an attempt to reduce the sintering temperature. Results of this study demonstrate that the optimal composition of PLSZST-0.8 wt% Al2O3 sintered at a lower temperature 1040 degrees C, has a high recoverable energy density (W-re, 3.23 J/cm(3)) and a high efficiency (eta, 90 %) at room temperature. It is also high in pulse discharge energy density (W-dis, 2.45 J/cm(3)), current density (1369 A/cm(2)), and has an extremely short period of discharge (less than 500 ns). In addition, both W-re and eta demonstrate a good stability in temperature within a wide range of 30 degrees C-100 degrees C. In sum, this novel AFE composition has great potentials for energy storage applications such as high energy density MLCCs.