Tailoring Relaxor Antiferroelectric Ceramics for Energy Storage (TRACES)

Abstract
Producing energy from renewable sources imposes challenges related to storing a constantly fluctuating energy. The development of innovative materials for high-energy storage with good temperature stability is therefore essential for applications in electric vehicles, aeronautics, geothermal energy exploitation, etc. Nowadays, no material completely meets the current industrial requirements. Recent models describing the energy density and efficiency of antiferroelectric materials provide an encouraging guidance towards achieving good storage properties in small, light, inexpensive, and environmentally-friendly components. In this interdisciplinary bilateral Czech-Slovenian project we propose to develop new environment-friendly, lead-free relaxor antiferroelectric materials and to design proof-of-concept multilayer capacitors on the basis of lattice-dynamics and structure-property characterization of materials across multiple length-scales, supported by simulations and modelling.