Energy storage properties of (Pb, Sm, La)(Zr, Sn, Ti)O-3 antiferroelectric ceramics with SrTiO₃ modified

In this paper, thick film antiferroelectric ceramics (1 − x)(Pb_0.94La_0.02Sm_0.02)(Zr_0.675Sn_0.285Ti_0.04)O₃–xSrTiO₃ [(1 − x)PSLZST–xSrTiO₃, x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4] were prepared by solid-phase sintering and tape-casting method. The effect of SrTiO₃ additive on the microstructure, dielectric properties, and energy storage properties of PSLZST ceramics were investigated. The stable phase of the pure PSLZST ceramics is orthogonal perovskite phase. However, the stable phase is tetragonal perovskite phase when x = 0.05. The ceramics with x ≥ 0.1 are cubic perovskite structures. The grain distribution of PSLZST–SrTiO₃ ceramics becomes more uniform with increased SrTiO₃ concentration. The P–E curves of the (1 − x)PSLZST–xSrTiO₃ ceramics gradually change from typical antiferroelectric curves to relaxor ferroelectric ones. Doping SrTiO₃ is an effective means to improve the energy storage efficiency of the PSLZST antiferroelectric ceramics. The energy storage efficiency is 74% in the undoped PSLZST samples, while almost all the energy storage efficiencies of the PSLZST ceramic samples with SrTiO₃ modified are greater than 80%. The maximum energy storage efficiency can reach 94.6% when x = 0.4. This indicates that the (1 − x)PSLZST–xSrTiO₃ ceramics could be suitable for the applications of pulse power technology.