Energy storage optimization of ferroelectric ceramics during phase-transition process of amorphous/nanocrystalline and polycrystalline by using a phase-field model for dielectric breakdown

Abstract

Ferroelectric ceramics have the potential to be widely applied in the modern industry and military power systems due to their ultrafast charging/discharging speed and high energy density. Considering the structural design and electrical properties of ferroelectric capacitor, it is still a challenge to find out the optimal energy storage of ferroelectric ceramics during the phase-transition process of amorphous/nanocrystalline and polycrystalline. In this work, a finite element model suitable for the multiphase ceramic system is constructed based on the phase field breakdown theory. The nonlinear coupling relationship of multiple physical fields between multiphase ceramics was taken into account in this model. The basic structures of multiphase ceramics are generated by using the Voronoi diagram construction method. The specified structure of multiphase ceramics in the phase- transition process of amorphous/nanocrystalline and polycrystalline was further obtained through the grain boundary diffusion equation. The simulation results show that the multiphase ceramics have an optimal energy storage in the process of amorphous polycrystalline transformation, and the energy storage density reaches the maximum when the crystallinity is 13.96% and the volume fraction of grain is 2.08%. It provides a research plan and idea for revealing the correlation between microstructure and breakdown characteristics of multiphase ceramics. This simulation model realizes the nonlinear coupling of the multiphase ceramic mesoscopic structure and the phase field breakdown. It provides a reference scheme for the structural design and performance optimization of ferroelectric ceramics.