Low hysteresis and enhanced figure-of-merit of pyroelectric energy conversion at compatible phase transformation

The pyroelectricity of polar materials provides great potential for electricity generation from waste heat. The pyroelectric effect of the material can be magnificently enhanced at a first-order phase transformation due to the abrupt jump in spontaneous polarization within a narrow temperature range. Here, we show that the performance of energy conversion by phase transformation is inversely resonant with the hysteresis of thermally driven...