Structure and dielectric properties of Nd(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3 – BaTiO3 ceramics for energy storage applications

• Novel perovskite-type NZTBT ceramics were prepared by solid state method firstly.
• Structure and dielectric properties of ceramics were comparatively analyzed.
• The maximum energy storage density of 0.62 J/cm3 was obtained in NZTBT.

In this work, a full range of compositions of (1-x)Nd(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3–xBaTiO3 (NZT-BT) (0.0 ≤ × ≤ 1.0) ceramics were prepared by using conventional solid state reaction method at sintering temperature from 1300 °C to 1500 °C. Sintering behavior, phase composition, microstructures, and energy storage properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the system formed a monoclinic solid solution when 0 < x < 0.3, a cubic perovskite solid solution when 0.5 < x < 0.9, a tetragonal perovskite solid solution when 0.94 < x < 1.0. Materials were found to be ferroelectric when x ≥ 0.9. The 0.08 Nd(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3–0.92BaTiO3 ceramic sample was found to possess the largest energy density about 0.62 J/cm3 with charging efficiency 90% at a breakdown field strength 131 kV/cm.