Enhanced energy storage performance under low electric field in Sm^(3+) doped AgNbO_(3) ceramics

Herein,Ag_(1-3x)Sm_(x)NbO_(3)(0≤x≤0.025)antiferroelectric ceramics were successfully synthesized by solid state methods.The effect of Sm 3þdoping on the structure,property and energy storage performance were studied.With the increasing Sm^(3+)concentrations,the average grain size decreased.Meanwhile,the stability of high temperature M phases(i.e.,the structure between T_(f) and T_(3))was expanded,which led to low loss for energy storage.Both of structure analysis and ferroelectric tests revealed the existence of weakly polar/AFE-like phase below T_(f).The Sm 3þdoping tended to suppress the ferroelectric behavior and expand the stability of antiferroelectricity.Consequently,a significantly enhanced energy storage performance(W_(rec)=3.8 J/cm^(3),η=73%)could be achieved in Ag_(0.97)Sm_(0.01)NbO_(3) ceramic,which was almost 1.5 times larger than that in non-doped AgNbO_(3)(W_(rec)=2.4 J/cm^(3),η=45%)under the similar applied field of 1705 kV/cm±.In particular,the performance of the ceramic showed great temperature stability with variation of±5%from 25℃ to 125℃.These results indicated that the Ag_(0.97)Sm_(0.01)NbO_(3) ceramic could be an ideal lead-free candidate used in the energy storage field.