Highly enhanced electrothermal properties of 001-textured Pb-free ferroelectric (Ba_, Ca) (Ti_, Zr_, Sn)O₃ for energy harvesting and solid-state cooling

Ferroelectric ceramics hold great promise for applications in solid-state cooling and energy harvesting from waste heat due to their electrothermal energy conversion capabilities. Here, we synthesized crystallographically textured (Ba_0.95Ca_0.05) (Ti_0.87Zr_0.12Sn_0.01)O₃ (BCZTSn) ceramics using tape casting and SrTiO₃ (ST) single-crystal templates, which resulted in preferred grain orientation with a Lotgering factor as high as ∼90.8 %. The grain morphology, pyroelectric properties and the thermal-to-electrical energy conversion of BCZTSn-ST were characterized in detail. The textured BCZTSn-ST ceramics exhibit a remarkably high thermal-to-electrical energy conversion density of 0.787 J cm⁻³ in the temperature range of 303–373 K and large electrocaloric (EC) temperature change of ∼2.3 K at 373 K. This works demonstrates that preferred grain orientation is a promising way to improve EC and energy harvesting properties in the Pb-free BaTiO₃-based ferroelectric ceramics. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd