Ultimate energy conversion of ferroelectric ceramics with ultrahigh polarization under shock wave compression

Abstract

The ultimate energy conversion of ferroelectric (FE) materials possesses the advantage of high pulse power current output capability, which has attracted great attention in scientific research and high-tech applications. The underlying principle is related to pressure-driven phase transition in FE materials, accompanied by depolarization upon shock wave compression. In this work, the energy conversion of (Pb0.985La0.01)(Zr0.92Ti0.08)O3 FE ceramics under shock wave compression is reported. It is obtained for the maximum current profile up to ∼16 A and a full width at half maximum of 2.0 μs. Besides, the poled (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 (PLZT) ceramics, possessing high energy storage density of 36 J/cm3, achieve complete depolarization under high strain rate loading, releasing a high polarization ∼37 μC/cm2. The released polarization from complete depolarization is approximately 100% of the released polarization from thermal-induced depolarization, which is 15% higher than that of Pb(Zr0.95Ti0.05)O3 ceramics. The high polarization resulting from shock-compression depolarization is mainly attributed to pressure-driven ferroelectric–antiferroelectric phase transition. It follows that PLZT ceramics could be a suitable candidate for ultrahigh pulse power applications.