Local heterogeneous dipolar structures drive gigantic capacitive energy storage in antiferroelectric ceramics

Antiferroelectric ceramics, driven by electric-field-induced antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transitions, hold exceptional potential for high capacitance density capacitors. However, conventional antiferroelectric ceramics are capable of releasing only 70-80% of the energy during the charging-discharging cycles, limiting their practical applications. Herein, we propose a novel approach using heterogeneous dipolar structures in PbHfO3-based AFE ceramics to achieve remarkable energy density. By compositionally inducing structural order-disorder transitions, heterogeneous dipolar structures with complex interactions are created, within which dipoles can rapidly flip under the applied electric field, thereby substantially reducing the hysteresis losses. Combined with significantly improved breakdown strength, the optimized antiferroelectric ceramics exhibits a large recoverable energy density approximately 20.04 J cm−3 and a high efficiency of around 90.5%, setting a new benchmark for antiferroelectric ceramics. This work, focusing on the atomic scale, clarifies the structure-property relationship and provides valuable insights for developing next-generation high-performance antiferroelectric materials.