Enhanced energy density in Mn-doped (1-x)AgNbO3-xCaTiO3 lead-free antiferroelectric ceramics

Abstract Ceramics of 0.2 wt% Mn-doped (1-x)AgNbO3-xCaTiO3 (x = 0.00–0.04) were prepared in flowing oxygen with the solid state method. The microstructure, antiferroelectricity and energy storage performance were investigated to explore the potential for use in energy storage capacitors. Incorporation of CaTiO3 in AgNbO3 effectively inhibits the grain growth and gives rise to high dielectric breakdown strength. The temperature-dependent dielectric property and Raman spectroscopy measurements demonstrate the enhanced stability of antiferroelectricity by CaTiO3 addition through adjusting the M1–M2 phase transition. As a result of both improved antiferroelectricity and dielectric breakdown strength, a high recoverable energy density of 3.7 J/cm3 was achieved in the 2 mol% CaTiO3-modified AgNbO3 ceramic, which represents one of the highest recoverable energy density in recently studied lead-free ceramics. Furthermore, the energy storage performance displays an excellent thermal stability with a low variation (3%) over a wide temperature range (20–120 °C). These results indicate that modifying AgNbO3 simultaneously on the A- and B-sites in the ABO3 perovskite structure may lead to the discovery of new antiferroelectric materials with a high energy density.