Giant electrocaloric effect in a wide temperature range in PbTiO3 nanoparticle with double-vortex domain structure

Abstract

Electrocaloric effect (ECE) has the potential applications in solid-state refrigeration with the features of high efficiency and environmentally friendly. Large adiabatic temperature change in a wide temperature range is needed for electrocaloric effect to meet the requirement of commercially application. In this work, giant electrocaloric effect is found in PbTiO3 nanoparticle with double-vortex domain structure in a wide temperature range by using phase field method, which the lowest and highest adiabatic temperature change (ΔT) is 7.2 K and 16.5 K, respectively. The influence of misfit strain on the ECE of PbTiO3 nanoparticle with the double-vortex domain structure is investigated, and results show that the compress misfit strain can enhance the ECE, but the tensile misfit strain reduces the ECE. This work reveals a way to obtain giant ECE of ferroelectric materials by domain engineering and strain engineering in a wide temperature range.