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Electric field-induced antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition and the associated nonlinear dielectric behavior in particulate composites are investigated for achieving a high dielectric capacity. A phenomenological thermodynamic model based on the Landau theory is first developed to discuss the generic phenomena of a temperature-electric field phase diagram, coexistence of antiferroelectric and ferroelectric phases, field-induced antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition, and nonlinear dielectric behavior. The model is then used to carry out the phase field simulation of particulate nonlinear dielectric composites. It is found that the composites exhibit nonlinear dielectric behaviors, and the depolarization field in the composites helps reduce the dielectric hysteresis and enhance the reversibility of antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transitions, which are desired for energy storage applications. The simulations also reveal the underlying domain-level mechanisms for nucleation and growth processes of the phase transitions. It is shown that the macroscopic properties of the composites sensitively depend on the directional alignment of the antiferroelectric filler particles, and thus the filler morphology is an effective control variable in designing nonlinear dielectric composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanisms of nucleation and growth of domains during ferroelectric phase transformation are investigated by using theoretical and computational approaches. It is shown that ferroelectric phase transformation exhibits some peculiar behaviors due to strong long-range dipole-dipole-like interactions involved in the system. Incorporation of electrostatic and elastostatic energies into the classical Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire theory effectively modifies the coefficients of the polynomial free energy function and introduces extra energy barrier for ferroelectric phase transformation. It is found that independent nucleation of ferroelectric phase in the context of classical nucleation theory is prohibited, because electrostatic interaction generates an insurmountable energy barrier to isolated nucleus. Phase field modeling and computer simulation reveals that, in order to circumvent such an energy barrier, ferroelectric nucleation exhibits strong spatial correlation and self-organization behaviors from the very beginning, and ferroelectric phase transformation proceeds via spatial and temporal evolution of self-accommodating domains that provide a low-energy kinetic pathway throughout the phase transformation process. Theoretical analysis of the critical wavelength of correlated nucleation agrees with the computer simulation. Heterogeneous nucleation as induced by externally applied local electric field and subsequent polarization evolution process is also simulated to further demonstrate such self-organized pattern formation behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]