High performance relaxor ferroelectric textured ceramics for electrocaloric refrigeration

作者：Xuexin Li, Jinglei Li, Yang Li, Xuechen Liu, Shuai Yang, Jie Wu, Dingwei Hou, Jinjing Zhang, Haijun Wu, Yang Zhang, Xiangdong Ding, Jun Sun, Shujun Zhang, Hongliang Du, Fei Li · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-025-59808-w · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials、Multiferroics and related materials、Microwave Dielectric Ceramics Synthesis

Relaxor ferroelectric ceramics have emerged as promising candidates for electrocaloric cooling systems due to their relatively higher heating and cooling capacities. However, simultaneously achieving high temperature changes (ΔT) and a wide operating temperature range remains a significant challenge, limiting their practical applications. This work proposes a synergistic strategy that involves precise compositional tuning of the BaTiO3-xKNbO3 system to customize the rhombohedral-to-cubic phase boundary around room temperature, coupled with engineering grain orientation of the ceramics. Based on this approach, a maximum ΔT of 3.9 K is achieved in <111>c-texture BaTiO3-KNbO3 ceramics, outperforming most environmentally friendly ceramics. Notably, the ΔT variation remains within ±10% across a temperature range of 30 °C to 80 °C, demonstrating a promising material for the design and application of electrocaloric cooling devices. This work provides new insights for the design of ceramics with optimized electrocaloric properties, offering significant potential for improving the efficiency and functionality of next-generation cooling technologies and devices. The authors achieve a high electrocaloric temperature change (ΔT = 3.9 K) in c-textured BaTiO3-KNbO3 ceramics via compositional tuning and grain orientation engineering. The ΔT variation remain within ±10% across 30–80 °C, demonstrating exceptional stability.