Enhanced energy storage property and dielectric breakdown strength in Li+ doped BaTiO3 ceramics

(Ba1-xLix)TiO3 ceramics (x = 0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10; abbreviated as BLTx) were synthesized via traditional solid-state method, the microstructure, energy storage performance including the dielectric breakdown strength (BDS) and the process of charge transportation were investigated. All the ceramics exhibit pure tetragonal perovskite structure and the grain size of the ceramics was effectively refined by Li+ ions doping. The BDS increased from 39.2 kV/cm to 76.5 kV/cm greatly due to moderate oxygen vacancies. The optimum energy-storage density of 0.293 J/cm(3) and energy-storage efficiency of 64.7% were obtained at x = 0.04 (BLT4). Meanwhile the remnant polarization and the maximum polarization of BLT4 ceramic were 3.8 mu C/cm(2) and 17.6 mu C/cm(2), respectively, indicating that the long-range ordered ferroelectric domains of BaTiO3 has been destroyed. The BLTx ceramics with enhanced energy-storage properties and excellent performance parameters are potential candidates for capacitors. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.