Enhanced energy storage performance in (Pb0.858Ba0.1La0.02Y0.008)(Zr0.65Sn0.3Ti0.05)O3-(Pb0.97La0.02)(Zr0.9Sn0.05Ti0.05)O3 anti-ferroelectric composite ceramics by Spark Plasma Sintering

Anti-ferroelectric composite ceramics of (Pb0.858Ba0.1La0.02Y0.008)(Zr0.65Sn0.3Ti0.05)O-3-(Pb0.97La0.02) (Zr0.9Sn0.05Ti0.05)O-3 (PBLYZST-PLZST) have been fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) method. The effect of SPS process on phase structure, anti-ferroelectric and energy storage properties of the composites has been investigated in detail. The X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectrometry analysis illustrate that the composites are composed of tetragonal perovskite, orthorhombic perovskite and small amount of non-functional pyrochlore phases. Compared with conventional solid-state sintering (CS) process, SPS process is helpful to suppress the diffusion behavior between the tetragonal PBLYZST and orthorhombic PLZST phases, and thereby improve the contribution of PLZST phase to the FE-to-AFE phase transition electric field (E-A) of the composites. As a result, the SPS composite ceramics possess a considerable E-A of 162 kV/cm and a high recoverable energy storage density valued 6.40 J/cm(3) which is 1.75 J/cm(3) higher than that of the CS samples and about 2.3 times as that of the PBLYZST ceramics. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.