Enhanced energy storage density and its variation tendency in CaZrxTi1-xO3 ceramics

The improved energy storage density and its variation tendency have been investigated for CaZrxTi1-xO3 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) solid solution ceramics. The dense ceramics with high bulk density above 97% could be obtained, and X-ray diffraction analysis confirms the orthorhombic single phase structure in all compositions. Substitution of Zr4+ obviously increases the sintering temperature, and the homogeneous fine grain structure is obtained. With increasing x, the dielectric constant er decreases from 175 to 103, while the dielectric strength E-b increases from 435 kV/cm to 756 kV/cm. The highest energy storage density of 2.7 J/cm(3) is achieved at x = 0.4, which is much higher than that of CaTiO3 end-member. The energy storage density significantly increases with decreasing the thickness due to the increased dielectric strength (For the samples with x = 0.5, the dielectric strength increases from 584 kV/cm to 756 kV/cm while the energy storage density increases from 1.6 J/cm(3) to 2.6 J/cm(3) when the thickness changes from 0.50 mm to 0.15 mm). (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.