A collaborative research team led by professors Yang Hao and Li Weiwei from the College of Physics at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA), in partnership with academician Nan Cewen of Tsinghua University, achieved a groundbreaking breakthrough in dielectric energy storage on April 11.
Their findings, titled Ultrahigh Capacitive Energy Storage Through Dendritic Nanopolar Design, were published in Science.
According to the article, the research team proposed a microstructural strategy with dendritic nanopolar (DNP) regions self-assembled into an insulator, which simultaneously enhances breakdown strength and high-field polarizability and minimizes energy loss and thus markedly improves energy storage performance and stability.
For illustration, in this study, they achieved a high energy density of 215.8 joules per cubic centimeter with an efficiency of 80.7 percent at a high electric field of 7.4 megavolts per centimeter in a DNP structure–designed PbZr0.53Ti0.47O3-MgO film.
The proposed strategy is generally applicable for the development of high-performance dielectric microcapacitors.
The first authors of the article include Liu Yajing, postdoctoral researcher at NUAA’s College of Physics, associate researcher Zhang Yang, professor Wang Jing of NUAA’s College of Aerospace Engineering, as well as doctor Chao Yang of Max Planck Institute.
Corresponding authors include doctor Wang Hongguang of MPI, professor Yang Hao and professor Li Weiwei, and academician Nan Cewen.
The article also received support from professor Peter A. van Aken of MPI and professor Judith L. MacManus-Driscoll of University of Cambridge.
Liu Yajing earned her PhD in June 2024 under the supervision of professor Yang Hao and subsequently joined the postdoctoral program in professor Li Weiwei’s research group at NUAA.
