Some energy usage scenarios, such as igniting the engines of electric vehicles, require the fast release of electrical energy, i.e., high-power output. These important technologies need devices that can not only store large amounts of energy but also respond quickly. Among many potential candidates, antiferroelectric (AFE) materials show great potential due to their polarisation-electrical field relationship. However, since AFE materials have antiparallel-aligned polarisation, their structure is very complicated. This project will design and synthesise AFE materials via solid state reaction and systematically investigate the chemistry-structure-property relationships. This will help gain a deep insight into the complex average and local crystal structures resulting from chemical substitutions/doping and  their impact on the electrical properties.

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