Multifunctionality in (K,Na)NbO₃-based ceramic near polymorphic phase boundary

The 0.95K_0.42Na_0.58Nb_0.96Sb_0.04O₃-0.02BaZrO₃-0.03Bi_0.5K_0.5HfO₃ ceramic was fabricated via a conventional solid-state reaction. This ceramic exhibits the diffuse polymorphic phase boundary (PPB) near room temperature. The dielectric, ferroelectric, electromechanical, electrocaloric, and dielectric energy storage properties were studied systemically. The normalized large signal d₃₃* values are approximately 400-600 pm/V at measured temperatures and electric fields, which are larger than or comparable with the values reported in other lead-free compositions. The electrocaloric strength is enhanced at the broad region of PPB provided by the indirect and direct measurements. At low field of 30 kV/cm, the dielectric energy storage is ∼0.12-018 J/cm³ at relative broad temperature range due to the diffuse nature of polymorphic phase boundary. Theoretical simulations reveal that multi-element dopants, such as Sb⁵⁺, Hf⁴⁺, Zr⁴⁺, and Bi³⁺ ions, could induce the breaking of local structure symmetry in the orthorhombic phase to form the PPB. In addition, the charge distribution may also break the long-range ferroelectric order through the analysis of Bader charge. Our study suggests that the K_0.5Na_0.5NbO₃-based ceramic exhibits improved performance and good thermal stability in piezoelectric, electrocaloric, and dielectric energy storage characteristics in terms of the design of multi-element dopants to form the PPB and it will benefit the promising applications in electronic devices.