Superhierarchical Inorganic/Organic Nanocomposites Exhibiting Simultaneous Ultrahigh Dielectric Energy Density and High Efficiency

Abstract

Inorganic/organic dielectric nanocomposites have been extensively explored for energy storage applications for their ease of processing, flexibility, and low cost. However, achieving simultaneous high energy density and high efficiency under practically workable electric fields has been a long‐standing challenge. Guided by first‐principles calculations of interface properties and phase‐field simulations of the dynamic dielectric breakdown process, superhierarchical nanocomposites of ferroelectric perovskites, layered aluminosilicate nanosheets, and an organic polymer matrix are designed and simultaneous high energy density of 20 J cm−3 and high efficiency of 84% at a low electric field of 510 MV m−1 are achieved. This is the highest energy density of all the state‐of‐the‐art dielectric polymer nanocomposites with energy efficiency > 80% at a low electric field of <600 MV m−1. Strong atomic hybridization, large ionic displacement, the enhanced breakdown strength through forming charge‐blocking layers, and the superhierarchical microstructure with gradient interfaces are responsible for the high performances. This superhierarchical structuring modulation strategy is generally applicable to composites for different functionalities and applications.

Antiferroelectric Anisotropy of Epitaxial PbHfO3 Films for Flexible Energy Storage

“…The hysteresis loops of PHO (110) c film are similar to those obtained for relaxor FEs when the temperature exceeds 483 K. [27] It has the characteristic of a relatively small coercive field so that its ƞ is better than that at room temperature. However, compared with the recently developed systems, [1,[28][29][30][31] there is still left much to be desired in the performance of energy storage efficiency. Nevertheless, PHO still has excellent potential for applications in high-temperature environment due to stable energy storage efficiency.…”

High‐Temperature High‐Energy‐Density Dielectric Polymer Nanocomposites Utilizing Inorganic Core–Shell Nanostructured Nanofillers

“…The large divergence in K of ceramic fillers and polymer is known to aggravate the local distortion of electric field and yield highly inhomogeneous field distribution, and consequently, greatly reduce the breakdown strength of the composites. [ 31–33 ] Additionally, this approach takes advantage of the wide bandgap feature of the Al 2 O 3 shell (≈8.8 eV vs ≈5.8 eV of ZrO 2 ) [ 26 ] to create a high barrier in the energy level and limit electrical conduction, which is the main loss mechanism of dielectrics operating at high fields and elevated temperatures. [ 34,35 ] Moreover, compared with the organic shells, which could induce extra loss due to molecular relaxation and relatively poor stability at high temperatures, [ 7,8,35 ] the inorganic shell is anticipated to endow better thermal stability and low energy loss of the nanofillers at high temperatures.…”

Largely Improved Breakdown Strength and Discharge Efficiency of Layer‐Structured Nanocomposites by Filling with a Small Loading Fraction of 2D Zirconium Phosphate Nanosheets

“…Therefore, the key technology for the wide application of dielectric capacitors is to achieve high U d . [ 4 ] For dielectric capacitors, dielectrics store electrical energy via polarization under an external electric field. [ 5 ] In general, the U d of nonlinear dielectric materials is calculated by the external electric field ( E ) and electric displacement ( D ) as following equation: where the D can be decided by the electric polarization ( P ), dielectric constant of the dielectrics (ε r ), and the vacuum permittivity (ε 0 , 8.…”