Heterogeneous weakly coupled polar nanoclusters enabling superior high-temperature capacitive energy storage

Ceramic capacitors, although promising for advanced high-power energy storage, face challenges in energy density and efficiency at high temperatures, which restricts their practical applications. Guided by phase field simulations, we propose a structural design strategy to construct weakly coupled polar nanoclusters in superparaelectric state, and fabricate BaTiO<sub>3</sub>-based multilayer ceramic capacitors via prototype device technology. The capacitors achieve an ultrahigh energy storage density of 19.0 J·cm<sup>-3</sup> and a high energy storage efficiency of 95.5% at room temperature. More importantly, both metrics are still on the order of > 10.0 J·cm<sup>-3</sup> and > 95.0%, respectively, over 25-160 <sup>o</sup>C, outperforming previously reported ceramic capacitors. The weaken coupling between adjacent nanoclusters caused by disordered polar configurations, suppresses nonlinear polarization response and temperature sensitivity, ultimately enabling superior energy storage performance, which is confirmed by atomic-scale microstructure analysis. This work advances next-generation electronics and provides insights for developing high-performance high-temperature ceramic capacitors.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-02-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69631-6
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
16.08

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Heterogeneous weakly coupled polar nanoclusters enabling superior high-temperature capacitive energy storage

Qibin Yuan, Fang‐Zhou Yao, Kang Wang, Wen Gong et al.
1 citations
Nature Communications
Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
16.08
article

Heterogeneous weakly coupled polar nanoclusters enabling superior high-temperature capacitive energy storage

Qibin Yuan, Fang‐Zhou Yao, Kang Wang, Wen Gong, Da Li, Haibo Yang, Jinming Guo, Ying Lin, Binglong Zheng, Tao Lei, Yingchun Niu
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Ceramic capacitors, although promising for advanced high-power energy storage, face challenges in energy density and efficiency at high temperatures, which restricts their practical applications. Guided by phase field simulations, we propose a structural design strategy to construct weakly coupled polar nanoclusters in superparaelectric state, and fabricate BaTiO<sub>3</sub>-based multilayer ceramic capacitors via prototype device technology. The capacitors achieve an ultrahigh energy storage density of 19.0 J·cm<sup>-3</sup> and a high energy storage efficiency of 95.5% at room temperature. More importantly, both metrics are still on the order of > 10.0 J·cm<sup>-3</sup> and > 95.0%, respectively, over 25-160 <sup>o</sup>C, outperforming previously reported ceramic capacitors. The weaken coupling between adjacent nanoclusters caused by disordered polar configurations, suppresses nonlinear polarization response and temperature sensitivity, ultimately enabling superior energy storage performance, which is confirmed by atomic-scale microstructure analysis. This work advances next-generation electronics and provides insights for developing high-performance high-temperature ceramic capacitors.

Nature Communications
Jiangnan University (CN), China University of Petroleum, Beijing (CN), Jiaxing University (CN), Ministry of Education (MV), Advanced Ceramics Manufacturing (United States) (US), Shaanxi University of Science and Technology (CN), Hubei University (CN), Tsinghua University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Key Research and Development Projects of Shaanxi Province
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
16.08
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.