FLAME - Fermi Level Engineering of Antiferroelectric Materials for Energy Storage and Insulators

For this purpose, twelve working groups from the fields of materials and geosciences, chemistry as well as electrical engineering and information technology work together to develop new lead-free antiferroelectrics for energy storage devices and isolators.

Antiferroelectric materials enable the design of high energy and power density capacitors in common DC/ AC voltage inverters, and vice versa in electric drives, as well as in renewable power generation. As a result of their field-dependent permittivity, antiferroelectric materials can additionally be used in the insulation system as field control material in high-voltage insulators.

The scientific goal of the Fermi level Engineering is to fully understand the relation between the electronic structure of a material and respectively its corresponding properties, furthermore to convey design principles for developing new materials with a specifically set function. Accordingly, the sub-project E: “Components & Properties” of the LOEWE focus “FLAME” characterizes the specific properties of capacitors with antiferro electrical dielectrics . Therefore composite insulators based on epoxy / silicone resins are produced and characterized. The modeling and optimization of the electric field distribution in antiferroelectric composite insulators is supported by FEM simulation. Furthermore, the long-term stability of these composite insulators and capacitors is investigated by means of electrothermal aging.