Compositionally tuned phase transformations enhance pyroelectric energy harvesting from low-grade heat

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Geng, Ruiheng, Chan, Ka Hung, Huang, Xinyue, Tamura, Nobumichi, Zhang, Faqiang, Han, Wanjia, Zhang, Yang, Zhang, Chenbo, Chen, Xian
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866917456289726464
author Geng, Ruiheng
Chan, Ka Hung
Huang, Xinyue
Tamura, Nobumichi
Zhang, Faqiang
Han, Wanjia
Zhang, Yang
Zhang, Chenbo
Chen, Xian
author_facet Geng, Ruiheng
Chan, Ka Hung
Huang, Xinyue
Tamura, Nobumichi
Zhang, Faqiang
Han, Wanjia
Zhang, Yang
Zhang, Chenbo
Chen, Xian
contents Phase-transforming pyroelectric materials have emerged as promising candidates for low-grade thermal energy harvesting. However, whether first-order transformations with large pyroelectric coefficient or second-order transformations with better reversibility are preferable remains unclear. Here we report compositionally tunable phase transformations in Ba$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$TiO$_3$ ($x \in [0, 0.3]$), revealing evolution from first-order to second-order character. We identify a transitional regime between Sr$_{0.15}$ and Sr$_{0.22}$ where transformation mechanism fundamentally changes. Within this regime, Sr$_{0.19}$ achieves optimal lattice compatibility, exhibiting electrical leakage suppressed by over two orders of magnitude while retaining substantial polarization response. Energy conversion demonstrations show the multilayer Sr$_{0.19}$ device delivers pyroelectric current of $\sim$1.6 $μ$A at 64$~^\circ$C with an energy density of 1.6 mJ/cm$^3$ per cycle and 5.5\% conversion efficiency. Remarkably, this composition operates stably over 10,000 full energy conversion cycles without external bias field or recharging, demonstrating that transitional regime compositions provide the optimal balance between energy density and operational durability for practical low-grade heat harvesting.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_01791
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Compositionally tuned phase transformations enhance pyroelectric energy harvesting from low-grade heat
Geng, Ruiheng
Chan, Ka Hung
Huang, Xinyue
Tamura, Nobumichi
Zhang, Faqiang
Han, Wanjia
Zhang, Yang
Zhang, Chenbo
Chen, Xian
Materials Science
Applied Physics
Phase-transforming pyroelectric materials have emerged as promising candidates for low-grade thermal energy harvesting. However, whether first-order transformations with large pyroelectric coefficient or second-order transformations with better reversibility are preferable remains unclear. Here we report compositionally tunable phase transformations in Ba$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$TiO$_3$ ($x \in [0, 0.3]$), revealing evolution from first-order to second-order character. We identify a transitional regime between Sr$_{0.15}$ and Sr$_{0.22}$ where transformation mechanism fundamentally changes. Within this regime, Sr$_{0.19}$ achieves optimal lattice compatibility, exhibiting electrical leakage suppressed by over two orders of magnitude while retaining substantial polarization response. Energy conversion demonstrations show the multilayer Sr$_{0.19}$ device delivers pyroelectric current of $\sim$1.6 $μ$A at 64$~^\circ$C with an energy density of 1.6 mJ/cm$^3$ per cycle and 5.5\% conversion efficiency. Remarkably, this composition operates stably over 10,000 full energy conversion cycles without external bias field or recharging, demonstrating that transitional regime compositions provide the optimal balance between energy density and operational durability for practical low-grade heat harvesting.
title Compositionally tuned phase transformations enhance pyroelectric energy harvesting from low-grade heat
topic Materials Science
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.01791