The influence of phase transition on electrocaloric effect in lead‐free (Ba0.9Ca0.1)(Ti1−xZrx)O3 ceramics

Abstract In this paper, the influence of phase evolution on polarization change and electrocaloric response in lead‐free (Ba 0.9 Ca 0.1 )(Ti 1− x Z r x )O 3 ceramics ( BCTZ ) was systematically investigated. With increasing Zr/Ti ratio, the phase structure and phase transition behavior were greatly changed, resulting in various temperature and electric field dependence of electrocaloric responses. For x =0.05, a peak electrocaloric temperature change 1.64 K (at 130°C) and corresponding entropy change 1.78 J·kg −1 ·K −1 were obtained for 0‐7 kV·mm −1 electric field. Negative electrocaloric temperature change in −0.1 K was obtained below Curie temperature ( T c ), which may be induced by the orthorhombic‐tetragonal ferroelectric phase transition. With the increase in x , the peak value of the electrocaloric response decreased but much better temperature stability was observed. Simultaneously the negative electrocaloric response gradually disappeared with the disappearance of the low temperature ferroelectric‐ferroelectric phase transition. For x =0.2, electrocaloric response showed good temperature stability ranging from room temperature to 130°C, attributing to the relaxor ferroelectric feature.