Fine-grained BNT-based lead-free composite ceramics with high energy-storage density

Abstract The low breakdown strength of BNT-based dielectric ceramics limits the increase in energy-storage density. In this study, we successfully reduced the sintering temperature of BNT-ST-5AN relaxor ferroelectric ceramics from 1150 to 980 °C by two-phase compounding with nano-SiO 2 . Meanwhile, the average grain size of the composite ceramics is also greatly reduced from 4.45 μm to 0.37 μm. Thus, a large recoverable energy-storage density (3.22 J/cm 3 ) is achieved under the ultrahigh breakdown strength (316 kV/cm). Moreover, good temperature (25–150 °C) and frequency (10–200 Hz) stabilities are simultaneously achieved. The excellent energy-storage properties suggest that BNT-ST-based ceramics composited with SiO 2 form a promising low-temperature sintered dielectric material for pulsed power multilayer ceramic capacitors.