High performance relaxor ferroelectric textured ceramics for electrocaloric refrigeration

High performance relaxor ferroelectric textured ceramics for electrocaloric refrigeration | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article High performance relaxor ferroelectric textured ceramics for electrocaloric refrigeration Fei Li, Xuexin Li, Jinglei Li, Yang Li, Xuechen Liu, Shuai Yang, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5839214/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 May, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Relaxor ferroelectric ceramics have emerged as promising candidates for electrocaloric cooling systems due to their relatively higher heating and cooling capacities. However, simultaneously achieving high temperature changes (ΔT) and a wide operating temperature range remains a significant challenge, limiting their practical applications. This work proposes a synergistic strategy that involves precise compositional tuning of the BaTiO₃-xKNbO₃ system to customize the rhombohedral-to-cubic phase boundary around room temperature, coupled with engineering grain orientation of the ceramics. Based on this approach, a maximum ΔT of 3.9 K was achieved in c-texture BaTiO₃-KNbO₃ ceramics, outperforming most environmentally friendly ceramics. Notably, the ΔT variation remained within ±10% across a temperature range of 30 o C to 80 o C, demonstrating a promising material for the design and application of electrocaloric cooling devices. This work provides new insights for the design of ceramics with optimized electrocaloric properties, offering significant potential for improving the efficiency and functionality of next-generation cooling technologies and devices. Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for devices/Electronic devices Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformation.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 May, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5839214","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":406196301,"identity":"9ee8b3bd-6d06-43a4-93a6-b90cc608d098","order_by":0,"name":"Fei Li","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAuUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC9gbm9g8fGNjAHAmitPAcYGxjnMHAJkGaFmYeqGoitUgktj22beOrMzjAfPA2D4NdHjFa2o1zzrBJGBxgS7bmYUguJqjFXiKxQTqnAqSFx0yah+FAYgMRtjRIWxiAtPB/I1pLmzQDxBY2IrXwPGw27DnDJjnzMJux5RyDZCK0sCcffPCz7Rg/3/HmhzfeVNgR1gIFxxgYmEG0AZHqgaCGeKWjYBSMglEw8gAAK6k0AQpvzdwAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4572-0322","institution":"Xi'an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fei","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":406196302,"identity":"d30a32d3-beee-4955-88d8-825a479485fd","order_by":1,"name":"Xuexin Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystem","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xuexin","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":406196303,"identity":"27804c7f-1e57-485e-801a-ce4fa92e6f08","order_by":2,"name":"Jinglei Li","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4013-0059","institution":"Xi'an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jinglei","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":406196304,"identity":"7245d8fc-9b7b-47c3-9e48-4fa7c8b5b43d","order_by":3,"name":"Yang Li","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8168-5544","institution":"Xian Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yang","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":406196305,"identity":"32ef7945-338b-4e3a-af60-65fb31615c35","order_by":4,"name":"Xuechen Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xi'an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xuechen","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":406196306,"identity":"50295399-a83c-4436-ac62-5b4cc5548666","order_by":5,"name":"Shuai Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xi’an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shuai","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":406196307,"identity":"456e196e-6e95-47a0-ac80-c6443cf87b9e","order_by":6,"name":"Jie Wu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xi'an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jie","middleName":"","lastName":"Wu","suffix":""},{"id":406196308,"identity":"cedb3e5b-ea4d-4f22-9abd-949f3979449e","order_by":7,"name":"Dingwei Hou","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5768-9011","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dingwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Hou","suffix":""},{"id":406196309,"identity":"43589e6a-650f-4a3f-b1a2-f6e78a3866fd","order_by":8,"name":"Jinjing Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xi'an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jinjing","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":406196310,"identity":"887b4f84-c4ff-469a-b1b0-9d3f22e77170","order_by":9,"name":"Haijun Wu","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7303-379X","institution":"Xi'an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Haijun","middleName":"","lastName":"Wu","suffix":""},{"id":406196311,"identity":"117b44ba-241b-4909-81fc-7d0fd73d3ff2","order_by":10,"name":"Yang Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xi’an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yang","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":406196312,"identity":"28685156-6c6d-416a-8dcb-2509074a8ce6","order_by":11,"name":"Xiangdong Ding","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xi’an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiangdong","middleName":"","lastName":"Ding","suffix":""},{"id":406196313,"identity":"bbcc3d11-8096-48ee-b9e7-198d0dec1b9a","order_by":12,"name":"Jun Sun","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6796-5777","institution":"Xi'an Jiaotong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jun","middleName":"","lastName":"Sun","suffix":""},{"id":406196314,"identity":"78c02c8c-1133-4d1a-a1f1-e353132a846e","order_by":13,"name":"Shujun Zhang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6139-6887","institution":"University of Wollongong, Australia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shujun","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":406196315,"identity":"82d4ceca-6934-4830-a500-e2296d88c3f6","order_by":14,"name":"Du hongliang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Airforce Engineering University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Du","middleName":"","lastName":"hongliang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-16 06:40:24","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5839214/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5839214/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59808-w","type":"published","date":"2025-05-17T04:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":82974161,"identity":"4933e51d-85b3-41e7-989f-e0b6eee6af02","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-18 07:08:02","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1843084,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5839214/v1_covered_76b9833b-5282-4edd-92fc-5115adcde0b3.pdf"},{"id":74617610,"identity":"3374baec-589b-4440-994f-5a692b711493","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-24 04:52:34","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":1422461,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Information","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryInformation.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5839214/v1/b71e2d0edccc3b9ba9267158.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"High performance relaxor ferroelectric textured ceramics for electrocaloric refrigeration","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5839214/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5839214/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Relaxor ferroelectric ceramics have emerged as promising candidates for electrocaloric cooling systems due to their relatively higher heating and cooling capacities. However, simultaneously achieving high temperature changes (ΔT) and a wide operating temperature range remains a significant challenge, limiting their practical applications. This work proposes a synergistic strategy that involves precise compositional tuning of the BaTiO₃-xKNbO₃ system to customize the rhombohedral-to-cubic phase boundary around room temperature, coupled with engineering grain orientation of the ceramics. Based on this approach, a maximum ΔT of 3.9 K was achieved in \u003c111\u003ec-texture BaTiO₃-KNbO₃ ceramics, outperforming most environmentally friendly ceramics. Notably, the ΔT variation remained within ±10% across a temperature range of 30\u003csup\u003eo\u003c/sup\u003eC to 80\u003csup\u003eo\u003c/sup\u003eC, demonstrating a promising material for the design and application of electrocaloric cooling devices. This work provides new insights for the design of ceramics with optimized electrocaloric properties, offering significant potential for improving the efficiency and functionality of next-generation cooling technologies and devices.","manuscriptTitle":"High performance relaxor ferroelectric textured ceramics for electrocaloric refrigeration","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-01-24 04:52:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5839214/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"66bd754b-6a59-44b6-b7be-970fb4ca1d63","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 24th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":43315890,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis"},{"id":43315891,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for devices/Electronic devices"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-05-18T07:07:54+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-5839214","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59808-w","journal":{"identity":"nature-communications","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Nature Communications"},"publishedOn":"2025-05-17 04:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"May 17th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-01-24 04:52:30","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41467-025-59808-w","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59808-w","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5839214","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5839214","identity":"rs-5839214","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}