Enhanced electrocaloric effect in ferroelectric ceramics via defect dipole engineering

Wenrong Xiao; Yao Wu; Yilong Liu; Bin Yang; Zihao Zheng; Xingjian Zou; Xuetian Gong; Fangyuan Luo; Lulu Liu; Xu Wang; Shenglin Jiang; Junning Li; Kanghua Li; Shi Liu; Jinming Guo; Wen Dong; Shujun Zhang; Guangzu Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-63963-5

Enhanced electrocaloric effect in ferroelectric ceramics via defect dipole engineering

Wenrong Xiao (Co-first Author), Yao Wu (Co-first Author), Yilong Liu, Bin Yang, Zihao Zheng, Xingjian Zou, Xuetian Gong, Fangyuan Luo, Lulu Liu, Xu Wang, Shenglin Jiang, Junning Li, Kanghua Li, Shi Liu, Jinming Guo^*, Wen Dong^*, Shujun Zhang^*, Guangzu Zhang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Chemistry

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

2 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

The increasing demand for higher operating speeds and greater integration densities in electronic devices has made heat dissipation one of the most critical challenges for next-generation technologies. This challenge has driven extensive efforts aimed at achieving a giant electrocaloric effect in ferroelectrics for high-efficiency cooling. Here, we propose a defect dipole engineering strategy to manipulate the polarization behavior of ferroelectric ceramics, leading to superior electrocaloric effect. By incorporating Sm and Li ions, the (Sm_Bȧ-Li_Baʹ) defect dipoles enhance the polarizability of BaTiO₃. Simultaneously, these dipole defects increase the carrier activation energy, effectively mitigating the inherent trade-off between high breakdown strength and high polarization, thereby allowing the application of a high electric field to fully activate the electrocaloric potential. As a result, defect dipole engineering enables BaTiO₃ to achieve a remarkable electrocaloric effect over a wide temperature range, achieving a high temperature change of 2.7 K at 70 °C— typical for integrated circuits. © The Author(s) 2025.

Original language	English
Article number	8909
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	16
Online published	7 Oct 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63963-5
Publication status	Published - 2025

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52272110, 62105110, 52202134, 52372108, 52172114, 52001117, and 523B2011) (S.J., K.L., W.D., G.Z., J.G., and F.L.), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFA1204603) (G.Z., and K.L.), and Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (2024AFA012) (K.L.). We would also like to thank the Analytical and Testing Center of HUST.

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This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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abstract = "The increasing demand for higher operating speeds and greater integration densities in electronic devices has made heat dissipation one of the most critical challenges for next-generation technologies. This challenge has driven extensive efforts aimed at achieving a giant electrocaloric effect in ferroelectrics for high-efficiency cooling. Here, we propose a defect dipole engineering strategy to manipulate the polarization behavior of ferroelectric ceramics, leading to superior electrocaloric effect. By incorporating Sm and Li ions, the (SmB{\.a}-LiBaʹ) defect dipoles enhance the polarizability of BaTiO3. Simultaneously, these dipole defects increase the carrier activation energy, effectively mitigating the inherent trade-off between high breakdown strength and high polarization, thereby allowing the application of a high electric field to fully activate the electrocaloric potential. As a result, defect dipole engineering enables BaTiO3 to achieve a remarkable electrocaloric effect over a wide temperature range, achieving a high temperature change of 2.7 K at 70 °C— typical for integrated circuits. {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025.",

author = "Wenrong Xiao and Yao Wu and Yilong Liu and Bin Yang and Zihao Zheng and Xingjian Zou and Xuetian Gong and Fangyuan Luo and Lulu Liu and Xu Wang and Shenglin Jiang and Junning Li and Kanghua Li and Shi Liu and Jinming Guo and Wen Dong and Shujun Zhang and Guangzu Zhang",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-025-63963-5",

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T1 - Enhanced electrocaloric effect in ferroelectric ceramics via defect dipole engineering

AU - Xiao, Wenrong

AU - Wu, Yao

AU - Liu, Yilong

AU - Yang, Bin

AU - Zheng, Zihao

AU - Zou, Xingjian

AU - Gong, Xuetian

AU - Luo, Fangyuan

AU - Liu, Lulu

AU - Wang, Xu

AU - Jiang, Shenglin

AU - Li, Junning

AU - Li, Kanghua

AU - Liu, Shi

AU - Guo, Jinming

AU - Dong, Wen

AU - Zhang, Shujun

AU - Zhang, Guangzu

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - The increasing demand for higher operating speeds and greater integration densities in electronic devices has made heat dissipation one of the most critical challenges for next-generation technologies. This challenge has driven extensive efforts aimed at achieving a giant electrocaloric effect in ferroelectrics for high-efficiency cooling. Here, we propose a defect dipole engineering strategy to manipulate the polarization behavior of ferroelectric ceramics, leading to superior electrocaloric effect. By incorporating Sm and Li ions, the (SmBȧ-LiBaʹ) defect dipoles enhance the polarizability of BaTiO3. Simultaneously, these dipole defects increase the carrier activation energy, effectively mitigating the inherent trade-off between high breakdown strength and high polarization, thereby allowing the application of a high electric field to fully activate the electrocaloric potential. As a result, defect dipole engineering enables BaTiO3 to achieve a remarkable electrocaloric effect over a wide temperature range, achieving a high temperature change of 2.7 K at 70 °C— typical for integrated circuits. © The Author(s) 2025.

AB - The increasing demand for higher operating speeds and greater integration densities in electronic devices has made heat dissipation one of the most critical challenges for next-generation technologies. This challenge has driven extensive efforts aimed at achieving a giant electrocaloric effect in ferroelectrics for high-efficiency cooling. Here, we propose a defect dipole engineering strategy to manipulate the polarization behavior of ferroelectric ceramics, leading to superior electrocaloric effect. By incorporating Sm and Li ions, the (SmBȧ-LiBaʹ) defect dipoles enhance the polarizability of BaTiO3. Simultaneously, these dipole defects increase the carrier activation energy, effectively mitigating the inherent trade-off between high breakdown strength and high polarization, thereby allowing the application of a high electric field to fully activate the electrocaloric potential. As a result, defect dipole engineering enables BaTiO3 to achieve a remarkable electrocaloric effect over a wide temperature range, achieving a high temperature change of 2.7 K at 70 °C— typical for integrated circuits. © The Author(s) 2025.

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DO - 10.1038/s41467-025-63963-5

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JO - Nature Communications

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ER -

Enhanced electrocaloric effect in ferroelectric ceramics via defect dipole engineering

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