Abstract
Dielectric ceramic capacitors with ultrahigh power density have become essential in modern power electronics. Guided by phase-field simulations and experiments, we propose a “local ferroelectric–global superparaelectric” strategy. This approach enhances Pm by introducing local ferroelectric polarization within a superparaelectric matrix, enabling superior energy storage performance. Introducing strong ferroelectric PbTiO₃ into a (Bi0.2Na0.2K0.2La0.2Sr0.2)Ti0.9Zr0.1O3 high-entropy superparaelectric achieves an ultrahigh energy storage density of ~21 J/cm³ with an efficiency of ~87% at 110 kV/mm. Multiscale structural characterization and theoretical calculations reveal the atomic-scale mechanism for this performance enhancement. At ≤ 30% PbTiO3, the Pb2+ lone pair effect is locally confined, boosting local ferroelectric distortion while maintaining a superparaelectric average structure for superior energy storage. At 40-50%, this effect extends throughout the matrix, inducing submicro-scale domains and macroscopic piezoelectricity. This work presents a design and material system for high-performance energy storage ceramics, laying the theoretical foundation for advanced high-entropy ferroelectric applications.
Data availability
The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information files.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Disciplines Breakthrough plan of the Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. JYB2025XDXM409), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52532004), the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grant Number BX20250300 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Central South University. The project was also supported by State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, China.
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J.Z., S.Z., and D.Z. conceived and designed the project. T.W. prepared the samples and performed the property measurements. T.W. and J.Z. conducted the DFT calculations and phase-field simulations. M.S. and K.Z. performed the TEM and STEM observations and analysed the corresponding data. D.Z., C.K.Z., Z.Y., Z.Z., and X.Z. supervised the experiments. T.W. wrote the manuscript. J.Z. revised the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.
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Nature Communications thanks Megha Acharya, Maqbool Ur Rehman and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.
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Wei, T., Zou, J., Song, M. et al. Enhanced energy storage in high-entropy superparaelectrics via local ferroelectric polarization. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71370-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71370-7
