Local structure heterogeneity in unique tetragonal BaTiO3-based relaxor featuring ultrahigh electrostrictive effect

Yonghao Yao; Lu Wang; Yuanpeng Zhang; Jue Liu; Chuanrui Huo; Hui Liu; Jun Chen

doi:10.1039/D3TA04557A

Local structure heterogeneity in unique tetragonal BaTiO₃-based relaxor featuring ultrahigh electrostrictive effect†

Yonghao Yao,

^a Lu Wang,^a Yuanpeng Zhang,^b Jue Liu,

^b Chuanrui Huo,^a Hui Liu

*^a and Jun Chen

*^ac

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
E-mail: huiliu@ustb.edu.cn, junchen@ustb.edu.cn

^b Chemical and Engineering Materials Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA

^c Hainan University, Haikou 570228, Hainan Province, China

Abstract

Relaxor ferroelectrics are characterized by nanoscale structural heterogeneity and show superior electrical properties. However, the complicated local structures in lead-free counterparts are not well deciphered, impeding the understanding of the corresponding relationships between structure and properties. Herein, the temperature-dependent local structures of the unique tetragonal BaTiO₃-(Bi_0.5Li_0.5)TiO₃ relaxor, which presents an ultrahigh electrostrictive effect, were studied using neutron total scattering. Significant tetragonal distortion at the 1–10 Å local scale persisted between 100 and 500 K, despite the long-range structure having undergone a tetragonal to cubic phase transition. Interestingly, nanoscale Li–Bi clusters were indicated to present in the Ba matrix, with these clusters showing large polar displacements even at temperatures above T_m. A gradual disorder in the local polarization direction with increasing temperature was observed, accompanied by a nearly constant magnitude of the spontaneous polarization. This phenomenon was found to lead to a vanishing of macroscopic polarization during the diffuse phase transition. These findings have contributed to a better understanding of the role of local chemical heterogeneity in the relaxor behavior, and have provided a structural foundation for designing relaxors by utilizing short-range chemical ordering.

This article is part of the themed collection: Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3TA04557A
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 01 Aug 2023
Accepted: 18 Sep 2023
First published: 29 Sep 2023

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J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 22797-22802

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Local structure heterogeneity in unique tetragonal BaTiO₃-based relaxor featuring ultrahigh electrostrictive effect

Y. Yao, L. Wang, Y. Zhang, J. Liu, C. Huo, H. Liu and J. Chen, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 22797 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA04557A

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A