Giant intrinsic electrocaloric effect in ferroelectrics by local structural engineering

Bo Wu, Hong Tao, Kui Chen, Zhipeng Xing, Yan-Qi Wu, Hao-Cheng Thong, Lin Zhao, Chunlin Zhao (), Ze Xu, Yi-Xuan Liu, Fang-Zhou Yao, Tianhang Zhou (), Jian Ma, Yan Wei (), Ke Wang and Shujun Zhang ()
Additional contact information
Bo Wu: Southwest Minzu University
Hong Tao: Southwest Minzu University
Kui Chen: Southwest Minzu University
Zhipeng Xing: Tsinghua University
Yan-Qi Wu: Tsinghua University
Hao-Cheng Thong: Tsinghua University
Lin Zhao: Southwest Minzu University
Chunlin Zhao: Fuzhou University
Ze Xu: Tsinghua University
Yi-Xuan Liu: Tsinghua University
Fang-Zhou Yao: Wuzhen Laboratory
Tianhang Zhou: China University of Petroleum (Beijing)
Jian Ma: Southwest Minzu University
Yan Wei: Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology
Ke Wang: Tsinghua University
Shujun Zhang: University of Wollongong

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The electrocaloric effect of ferroelectrics holds great promise for solid-state cooling, potentially replacing traditional vapor-compression refrigeration systems. However, achieving adequate electrocaloric cooling capacity at room temperature remains a formidable challenge due to the need for a high intrinsic electrocaloric effect. While barium titanate ceramic exhibits a pronounced electrocaloric effect near its Curie temperature, typical chemical modifications to enhance electrocaloric properties at room temperature often reduce this intrinsic electrocaloric effect. Herein, a structural design is introduced for barium titanate-based ceramics by incorporating isovalent cations. This leads to a well-ordered local structure that decreases the Curie temperature to room temperature while preserving a sharp phase transition, enabling a large dielectric constant and tunable polarization. This design achieves a remarkable electrocaloric strength of ~1.0 K·mm/kV, surpassing previous reports. Atomic-resolution structural analyses reveal that the presence of multiscale nanodomains (from ~10 nm to >100 nm), and the dipole polarization distribution with gradual dipole rotation enable rapid phase transition and facile polarization rotation, accounting for the giant electrocaloric response. This work provides a strategy for achieving a strong intrinsic electrocaloric effect in ferroelectrics near room temperature and offers key insights into the microstructure landscapes driving this enhanced electrocaloric effect.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-61860-5 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-61860-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61860-5

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().