Reversible giant pyroelectricity for enhanced energy harvesting and solar-driven pyro-catalysis

Abstract

Pyroelectric energy harvesting is frequently constrained by irreversible polarization loss at phase transitions, necessitating repetitive re-poling. This study circumvents this limitation by designing a fully reversible, rhombohedral-type, ferroelectric-to-ferroelectric (FE-FE) transition in lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate-bismuth scandate ceramics. By optimizing the substitution level, a giant and recyclable pyroelectric response (∼60 × 10−8 C·cm−2·K−1) is achieved near ambient temperature. In situ structural analysis reveals a competitive mechanism where B–O bond expansion and A-site-dominated polarization redistribution collectively amplify temperature sensitivity. As a proof of concept, the optimized ceramics facilitate 97.6% degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride through solar-driven pyro-catalysis over 20 cycles without performance decay. These results establish phase-transition engineering as a transformative approach for self-restoring pyroelectric materials. This research paves the way for efficient utilization of ambient thermal and solar resources in energy harvesting and environmental remediation.