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arXiv · 2507.02926

Nonlinear ferroelectric characteristics of barium titanate nanocrystals determined via a polymer nanocomposite approach

Qiong Li·Elshad Allahyarov·Tianxiong Ju·Zhiqun Lin·Lei Zhu
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Abstract

The growing demand for high energy storage materials has garnered substantial attention towards lead-free ferroelectric nanocrystals (NCs), such as BaTiO3 (BTO), for next-generation multilayer ceramic capacitors. Notably, it remains challenging to accurately measure the dielectric constant and polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis loop for BTO NCs. Herein, we report on nonlinear ferroelectric characteristics of BTO NCs via a polymer nanocomposite approach. Specifically, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)(PVP)/BTO nanocomposite films of 3-10 {\mu}m thickness, containing 380 nm tetragonal-phased and 60 nm cubic-phased BTO NCs with uniform particle dispersion, were prepared. Theoretical deconvolution of the broad experimental P-E loops of the PVP/BTO NC composite films revealed three contributions, that is, the linear deformational polarization of the nanocomposites, the polarization of BTO NCs (Pp ), and the polarization from strong particle-particle interactions. Using different mixing rules and nonlinear dielectric analysis, the overall dielectric constants of BTO NCs were obtained, from which the internal field in the BTO NCs (Ep ) was estimated. Consequently, the Pp-Ep hysteresis loops were obtained for the BTO380 and BTO60 NCs. Interestingly, BTO380 exhibited square-shaped ferroelectric loops, whereas BTO60 displayed slim paraelectric loops. This work presents a robust and versatile route to extract the Pp-Ep loops of ferroelectric NCs from polymer/ceramic nanocomposites.

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Qiong Li, Elshad Allahyarov, Tianxiong Ju, Zhiqun Lin, Lei Zhu. 2025-06-26. Nonlinear ferroelectric characteristics of barium titanate nanocrystals determined via a polymer nanocomposite approach. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3nr05185d

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