Electro-caloric effects in the BaTiO3-based solid solution ceramics

Abstract

Electro-caloric effect (ECE) was investigated in BaTiO3 (BT)-based solid solution ceramics, Ba(Zr,Ti)O3 (BZT), Ba(Sn,Ti)O3 (BST) and (Ba,Ca)(Zr,Ti)O3 (BCZT) with the composition near an invariant critical point (ICP). The samples were fabricated by the solid-state reaction method and the ECE was obtained by an indirect measurement. The 12BZ–88BT, 9BS–91BT, and 32BCT–68BZT samples showed the best polarization–electric field (P–E) hysteresis characteristics at room temperature and displayed dielectric peaks at 46, 58, and 66 °C, which are the Curie temperatures. With increasing temperature, the P–E loops changed from typical ferroelectric square shapes to paraelectric slanted shapes in the BT-based solid solution ceramics. The adiabatic temperature change due to the ECE (ΔTECE) showed the maximum values of 0.46 °C at 80 °C, 0.5 °C at 65 °C, and 0.47 °C at 75 °C, respectively, in the 12BZ–88BT, 9BS–91BT, and 32BCT–68BZT samples. The BT-based solid solution ceramics showed smaller maximum ΔTECE, but broader ΔTECE peaks at nearer room temperature than the BT ceramic. The enhancement of the ECE due to the multi-phase coexistence was not observed in BT-based solid solutions with the compositions near an invariant critical point (ICP) at which several phases coexist.