•The Wdis should be calculated by R-L-C circuit instead of hysteresis loops.•The underdamped state lasts longer than the overdamped one.•Current expression is deduced from the R-L-C series circuit model.•Discharge current can be adjusted by circuit parameters or initial voltage.•Approximate prediction of the current is given.The pulsed capacitors have been widely applied in advanced electronic and electrical systems due to their high discharge energy density and fast release speed. In this article, the antiferroelectric Pb0.97La0.02(Zr0.60Sn0.35Ti0.05)O3 ceramics were prepared by a rolling method, and the effects of grain size, porosity, thickness as well as electrode area on breakdown strength (EBDS) have been investigated detailedly. The discharge properties were directly evaluated by a resistance-inductance-capacitance (R-L-C) circuit rather than hysteresis loops. Both underdamped and overdamped state were achieved to explore the current variations, and results show that at 150 kV/cm, the real discharge energy density (Wdis) is about 1.66 J/cm3, much smaller than that indirectly obtained from the hysteresis loops (∼2.85 J/cm3, under 100 Hz). The discrepancy is likely caused by the distinct polarization responses to DC and AC voltage of dielectrics. All these consequences demonstrate the potential of antiferroelectric ceramics for pulse power applications.

•Different Sn/Ti ratio in AFE ceramics led to different dielectric behaviors.•A high energy-storage density of 4.2 J/cm3 was achieved.•Energy-storage performance showed the excellent stability.•The Curie point of AFEs moved to lower temperature as applied electric field.(Pb0.97La0.02) (Zr0.5Sn0.5−xTix)O3 (0.04 < x < 0.10) antiferroelectric (AFE) ceramics were fabricated by the roll forming, and the dielectric properties and high energy-storage performance were investigated in detail. The results showed that all samples had different dielectric behaviors at room temperature. The switching field (EAF) obviously increased with the increase of Sn, and led to the increase of energy storage. A maximum recoverable energy-storage density of 4.2 J/cm3 with an efficiency of 82% was achieved in the (Pb0.97La0.02) (Zr0.5Sn0.44Ti0.06)O3 ceramic at room temperature, and also showed the stable energy-storage behavior. It was also observed that the applied of dc bias field caused the Curie temperature of PLZST move to the lower temperature. The high energy storage density and efficiency indicated that (Pb0.97La0.02) (Zr0.5Sn0.44Ti0.06)O3 AFE ceramic was a promising material for high-power energy storage.

•As increase of Ti/Sn, the major phase at MPB was changed from AFET to FER.•Dielectric constant of the poled state in AFET is greater than the virgin state.•Dielectric constant of the poled state in FER is less than the virgin state.•A FE-AFE phase change is detected in the FER poled state, and not found in AFET.(Pb0.97La0.02)(Zr75Sn0.25-x Tix)O3 (0.08 ≤ x ≤ 0.11) ceramics at morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) were fabricated by the conventional solid–state reactions, and the major phase was changed from tetragonal antiferroelectric phase to rhombohedral ferroelectric phase (AFET-FER) as the increase of Ti/Sn. The dielectric properties in original states and the poled states were systematically studied. Dielectric constant of the electric-induced AFET poled states was greater than the virgin state, then approached and become less as the compositions moved to FER phase. Moreover, there was a dielectric anomaly for FER poled sample on heating, but not observed in cooling cycle and AFET sample, which was a FE-AFE phase transition confirmed by dielectric constant as functions of temperature and electric field, and the abnormal dielectric behavior become more obviously with electric field increasing. This results are useful to understand the dielectric properties and phase transition in AFE and FE materials.

•Ba, Sr-modified (Pb, La)(Zr, Sn, Ti)O3 antiferroelectric ceramics were prepared.•The ceramics showed unique dielectric behavior in a narrow temperature range.•The ceramics exhibited three kinds of shapes from 20 °C to 90 °C.(Pb0.87Ba0.08Sr0.02La0.02)(Zr0.65Sn0.27Ti0.08)O3 ceramics with uniform and dense microstructure were papered by the traditional solid state reaction process, and the antiferroelectric (AFE) nature was confirmed by double hysteresis loops and dielectric behavior. The temperature had a great impact on the field dependence of the dielectric behavior that exhibited three kinds of shapes from 20 °C to 90 °C. Unique dielectric behavior indicated that the AFE ceramics obtained had a promising for tunable microwave devices.

In this work, Pb0.97La0.02(ZrxSn0.95−xTi0.05)O3 (PLZST) (0.5 < x < 0.9) tetragonal antiferroelectric (AFET) and orthogonal antiferroelectric (AFEO) ceramics were successfully fabricated by screen printing process. The ceramic materials were in thick-film form bonded with a small amount of glass. The electric field up to 400 kV/cm was presented for antiferroelectric ceramics. Besides, in order to reduce the energy loss of ceramics, the effects of Sn content and temperature on the dielectric properties and energy storage performance of AFE ceramics were investigated. With the increase of Sn content, the forward threshold electric field (EAF) and backward threshold field (EFA) decreased and the energy storage density increased obviously. The maximum energy storage density of 5.6 J/cm3 (30 °C) and 4.7 J/cm3 (120 °C) with corresponding energy efficiency of 67 % and 73 % were obtained in Pb0.97La0.02(Zr0.5Sn0.45Ti0.05)O3 ceramic, which makes this material a promising potential application in capacitors for pulsed power systems.

In this work, CdO–Bi2O3–PbO–ZnO–Al2O3–B2O3–SiO2 low softening point glass powders were prepared and employed as sintering aid to improve the dielectric breakdown strength and reduce the sintering temperature of Pb0.97La0.02(Zr0.56Sn0.35Ti0.09)O3 antiferroelectric ceramics. The effects of glass content and sintering temperature on the densification, microstructure, dielectric properties and energy storage performance of Pb0.97La0.02(Zr0.56Sn0.35Ti0.09)O3 antiferroelectric ceramics have been investigated. With inclusion of glass, sintered densities comparable to those obtained by conventional sintering are achieved at only 1,050 °C. The breakdown strength of glass-added samples was notably improved due to the reduction of the grain size. The antiferroelectric to ferroelectric switching field and the ferroelectric to antiferroelectric field both increased with increasing glass content. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss decreased gradually with increasing glass content. As a result, the highest recoverable energy density of 3.3 J/cm3 with an energy efficiency of 80 % was achieved in 4 wt% glass-added sample sintered at 1,130 °C.