Integrated structural and functional analysis of Ba1-xSrxTiO3-Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 ceramics: Insights into energy storage and electrocaloric performance

Abstract

This paper reports an extensive investigation on the structural, dielectric, ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties of 0.7Ba1-xSrxTiO3 – 0.3Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 (x = 0.0, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7) ceramics synthesized via conventional solid-state reaction (SSR) technique. X-ray diffraction data confirms the presence of pure perovskite phase. The variation of lattice parameters with strontium concentration in 0.7Ba1-xSrxTiO3 – 0.3Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 ceramics were evaluated using the Rietveld refinement of the XRD data. The variation of dielectric permittivity with temperature (ε' ∼ T) shows the diffused phase transition and all the parameters related to the relaxor ferroelectrics (relaxation coefficient, activation energy and freezing temperature) were evaluated. The energy storage properties of the as-prepared ceramics were evaluated using the room temperature PE loop. Amongst the as-prepared ceramics, the composition with x = 0.5 possesses the highest energy storage density of 0.46 J/cm3 with an efficiency of 90 %. The temperature dependent P-E loops were used to study the electrocaloric effect (ECE). The ECE calculations were performed using in-direct method based on Maxwell's thermodynamic relations. A maximum adiabatic temperature change of 0.32 K is achieved at 268 K under a small applied electric field of 25 kV/cm for the ceramic with Sr content x = 0.5. Additionally, electrocaloric responsivity ξmax = 0.13 K mm/kV was also found for the studied ceramics. The above results show that the ceramic 0.7Ba1-xSrxTiO3 – 0.3Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 with the composition x = 0.5 is a viable lead-free option for application in solid state refrigeration.