•Composition dependent phase transition and energy storage properties of PLZST were studied.•As Zr content increases (Ti fixed), EAFE-FE, EFE-AFE, Wre decrease linearly.•As Ti content decreases (Zr fixed), EAFE-FE, EFE-AFE, Wre and Wst increase linearly.•Two sets of simple linear composition scaling relations were established.•The maximum energy density of 2.35 J/cm3 was obtained.The composition dependent dielectric, ferroelectric and energy storage properties of tetragonal lead lanthanum zirconate stannate titanate (PLZST) antiferroelectric ceramics were systematically studied in this paper. Two sets of simple linear scaling relations were established for the forward switching field EAFE-FE, the backward switching field EFE-AFE and recoverable energy density Wre. As Zr content increases (Ti fixed), EAFE-FE, EFE-AFE, Wre decreases linearly, while the stored energy density Wst declines first and then increases. In addition, decreasing Ti content (Zr fixed) leads to linear increments in all of EAFE-FE, EFE-AFE, Wre and Wst. These results not only reveal the superiority of PLZST with lower Zr and lower Ti contents for energy storage capacitors, but also provide a fast way to design PLZST ceramics with specific energy storage properties. Our work may also be very helpful for better understanding the mechanism of phase transition behaviors of antiferroelectric materials.

•PbZrO3 (PZO) films are studied with Sn substitution of 0%, 3%, 5% and 10%.•Highly (001)-oriented films are deposited on LaNiO3 buffered SiO2/Si substrates.•5% Sn-substituted PZO film exhibits the highest energy density and efficiency.•Sn substitution can stabilize the anti-ferroelectric state in pure PbZrO3 films.Highly (001)-oriented pure PbZrO3 (PZO) films and Sn-substituted PZO films are deposited on (001)-LaNiO3 buffered SiO2/Si substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. Different Sn-substituted PbZrO3 films (PbZr1-xSnxO3, x = 0%, 3%, 5%, 10%) with orthorhombic anti-ferroelectric phase are fabricated. The effects of Sn substitution on structure and energy performance have been investigated in detail. The switching electric fields are enlarged and energy loss is lowered by Sn substitution. Recoverable energy density (Wr) of 14.8 ± 0.2 J/cm3 and energy efficiency (η) of 71.2 ± 0.5% at 900 kV/cm are obtained in 5% Sn-substituted PZO film (~ 360 nm). Furthermore, with thicker thickness of ~ 650 nm, Wr and η can be further improved. The Sn-substituted PZO film is believed to be an improved material for applications in energy storage systems and 5% Sn-substituted PZO film exhibits the highest Wr and η in this work.

•We model the antiferroelectric phase transition as occurring in a viscous medium.•The film shows area of double loop ∝ f0.03(E − 499)0.20 at low frequency.•The film takes the form of ∝ f0.10(E − 499)0.20 when frequency exceeds 30 Hz.•These relations are related to the variation of viscous force with the frequency.In this study, we investigated the scaling behavior of dynamic hysteresis with frequency f and electric field E in epitaxial PbZrO3 antiferroelectric film on (111)-oriented SrTiO3 substrate. The scaling relation for the saturated hysteresis loops takes the form of hysteresis area ∝ f0.03(E − 499)0.20 at relatively low testing f. However, when frequency exceeds 30 Hz, the shows stronger dependence on f while remains basically unchanged relation with E, leading to a form of ∝ f0.10(E − 499)0.20. The scaling behavior is modeled as occurring in a viscous medium where several forces, such as viscous and restoring forces, act on the phase transition process.

•Temperature dependence of dynamic hysteresis is investigated in low temperature crystallized Pb0.4Sr0.6TiO3 thin films.•Temperature scaling function takes the different forms divided by a transition region of 190–225 K.•The effect of thermal activated de-freezing of domain wall and dielectric response of defects with applied electric field.The temperature (T) dependence of dynamic hysteresis behavior is investigated in low temperature crystallized Pb0.4Sr0.6TiO3 thin films between 85 K and 340 K. It was found that the temperature scaling relations for hysteresis area 〈A〉, remnant polarization Pr and coercive field Ec take the different forms in two different temperature regions divided by a transition region ranging from 190 K to 225 K and the 〈A〉, Pr and Ec decreased in the first region and increased in the second region with increasing T. The different scaling relations can be predicted by the effect of thermal activated de-freezing of domain wall and dielectric response of defects with applied electric field. Moreover, the effect of substrate temperature on the dynamic hysteresis behavior versus T is also investigated.

A phase diagram for the lead-free ceramics in the (1−x%)(0.89Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3–0.06BaTiO3–0.05K0.5Na0.5NbO3)–x%MnO2 (BNBKN-x%Mn) binary system is constructed for the first time based on the ferroelectric and dielectric measurements. The ferroelectric behaviors under different temperatures suggest that the ceramics are basically of relaxor anti-ferroelectric nature near room temperature. The temperature dependent dielectric properties show that when the addition of MnO2 increases, the relaxor anti-ferroelectric phase can be stabilized to be close to the Curie point, which corresponds to a relaxor anti-ferroelectric to paraelectric phase transition.Highlights► Phase diagram for the BN–BKN-x%Mn binary system is constructed for the first time. ► The ceramics are observed basically of relaxor AFE nature near room temperature. ► The AFES to PE phase transition is observed in ceramics with high MnO2 addition.

The magnetodielectric properties of BSPT/LSMO multiferroic composite thin films were investigated through the measurement of the frequency dependence of the dielectric constant under different magnetic fields at room temperature. The magnetodielectric (MD) response showed strong frequency dependence: at 100 Hz, the MD response remained negative and the maximum value of −1.1% was obtained; at 52 kHz, the dielectric constant first decreased and then rose linearly with the magnetic field until the giant room temperature positive MD effect of 9.5% was derived under 7 T. The observed unique MD effects for BSPT/LSMO were attributed to the co-contributions of the magnetostriction and magnetoresistance.Highlights► Magnetodielectric effects in multiferroic composite thin films were investigated. ► A giant room temperature magnetodielectric response of 9.5% was derived. ► Distinct magnetodielectric (MD) effects were discovered at 100 Hz and 52 kHz. ► Interesting co-contributions of the magnetostriction and magnetoresistance were observed.

The domain switching dynamics was investigated in Nb-doped Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 bulk ceramics through observing systematically the evolution of the hysteresis loops at frequencies ranging from 0.01 to 100 Hz and in a field of 7.5–35 kV/cm. The experimental results indicate that the hysteresis loops are remarkably dependent on the fields and the frequencies. The data are analyzed by the Merz equation. The analysis results reveal that the requirement to satisfy the Merz equation is saturated loops. Based on these results, we divided the polarization switching process into three regions.

The scaling behaviors of the dynamic hysteresis in Zr-rich lead zirconate titanate bulk ceramics at various frequency (ff) and field amplitude (E0E0) values, and in different ferroelectric phases, were investigated. The scaling laws of the hysteresis area 〈A〉〈A〉 at fixed temperature take the forms 〈A〉∝f0.16E0〈A〉∝f0.16E0 and 〈A〉∝f0.01E00.2 for low frequency and high frequency, respectively. The forms are different from those of the theoretical predictions and other experimental results but are the same for different ferroelectric phases, which implies that the compositions and crystal structures can influence the scaling laws while the different space groups in the rhombohedral phase can not.

Sr0.30Ba0.70Nb2O6 (SBN30) ferroelectric ceramics were fabricated by conventional sintering (CS) and by hot-pressing sintering (HP) and their crystal structure, microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties were studied and compared. Preferred orientation of the HP ceramics was detected through X-ray diffraction. Dense microstructure virtually free of pores has been achieved in HP samples. Moreover, the HP samples manifested prominent anisotropy in electrical properties. Besides, the relative permittivity (εr), saturated polarization (Ps), pyroelectric coefficient (p) in the direction perpendicular to the pressing axis were much higher than those of the randomly oriented CS samples. The HP samples sintered under 200 MPa show excellent pyroelectric properties in the direction perpendicular to the pressing axis, with pyroelectric coefficient of 2.38×10−8C/cm2K and pyroelectric figure of merit of Fi=1.13 pm/V, Fv=1.89 m2/C and Fd=0.63 μPa−1/2，which roughly triple the values obtained in CS samples. These results indicate that hot-pressing is a viable option for accessing single-crystal-like anisotropy as well as enhanced electrical properties in polycrystalline ceramics, thus unveiling the distinctive potential of HP SBN30 ceramics for infrared detector applications.

The domain switching dynamics was investigated in Nb-doped Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 bulk ceramics through observing systematically the evolution of the hysteresis loops at frequencies ranging from 0.01 to 100 Hz and in a field of 7.5–35 kV/cm. The experimental results indicate that the hysteresis loops are remarkably dependent on the fields and the frequencies. The data are analyzed by the Merz equation. The analysis results reveal that the requirement to satisfy the Merz equation is saturated loops. Based on these results, we divided the polarization switching process into three regions.