Sustainable dielectric materials for energy storage: Processing, properties, and performance evaluation

The growing demand for sustainable electrical and electronic technologies has accelerated the search for environmentally benign dielectric materials with high-performance characteristics suited for applications such as electromagnetic shielding, energy storage, and electroactive devices. In this work, a Naturally Extracted Dielectric (NED) material derived from cuttlefish bone was processed via lyophilization and thermal calcination at various temperatures to enhance structural consistency. Structural evolution from aragonite-based calcium carbonate to calcium oxide (CaO) was confirmed through X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Dielectric behavior and ion transport mechanisms were assessed using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). Among all samples, the material calcined at 750 °C (NED-750) demonstrated the best performance, exhibiting strong Maxwell–Wagner interfacial polarization, high permittivity at low-frequency, and a peak DC conductivity of 5.4 × 10⁻³ S/m. A reduction of 8.2 % in material density with increasing calcination temperature further indicated enhanced porosity and polarization sites. The correlation of structural data with dielectric response establishes a comprehensive framework for evaluating bio-derived ceramics. These results highlight NED as a promising candidate for next-generation, sustainable dielectric energy storage system and electronic device.