Combinatorial optimization of perovskites-based ferroelectric ceramics for energy storage applications

With the escalating impacts of climate change and depletion of resources, dielectric capacitors, with their exceptional stability, fast charging and discharging rates, and more extreme condition possibilities, are emerging as promising high-demanded candidates for high-performance energy storage devices, distinguishing them from traditional electrochemical capacitors and batteries. However, due to the shortcomings of various dielectric ceramics (e.g., paraelectrics, ferroelectrics, and antiferroelectrics), their low polarizability, low breakdown strength, and large hysteresis loss limit their standalone use in the advancing of energy storage ceramics. Therefore, synthesizing novel perovskite-based materials that exhibit high energy density, high energy efficiency, and low loss is crucial to achieve superior energy storage performance. In this Review, we outline the recent development of perovskite-based ferroelectric energy storage ceramics from the perspective of combinatorial optimization for tailoring ferroelectric hysteresis loops, and comprehensively discuss the properties arising from the different combinations of components. We also provide future guidelines in this realm and therefore, the combinatorial optimization strategy in this review will open up a practical route towards the application of new high-performance ferroelectric energy storage devices.