Lead-free bismuth sodium titanate (BNT)-based ceramics have attracted strong attention as environmentally benign dielectric materials for high-efficiency electrostatic energy-storage capacitors. A key challenge is that pristine BNT typically exhibits large hysteresis, high remnant polarization, and limited dielectric reliability, which restrict recoverable energy storage and efficiency under practical electric fields. Here, we present a focused mini-review of recent studies to clarify how composition design, phase boundary tuning, defect chemistry, and microstructural control collectively enable slim or pinched polarization-electric field (P-E) behavior and improved energy-storage functionality in BNT-related bulk ceramics. The reviewed outcomes consistently show that stabilizing relaxor states governed by polar nanoregions (PNRs), often via solid-solution engineering and secondary relaxor/antiferroelectric-like incorporation, suppresses irreversible switching and reduces hysteresis loss, while densification and grain-size control enhance electrical homogeneity and breakdown strength. In addition, defect-mediated tuning of oxygen vacancy-related complexes is highlighted as an independent lever to control relaxor ergodicity and polarization reversibility, providing a complementary route to slim-loop optimization. These insights are expected to guide integrated design strategies that couple phase/relaxor-state engineering with defect and microstructure optimization, accelerating the development of reliable, temperature-robust, lead-free dielectric capacitors based on BNT-related ceramics.

This review addresses the development trends of dielectric ceramics, the key material for Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs), which are essential components in high-performance electronic devices. Traditional MLCCs have employed BaTiO₃ (BT)-based dielectrics to achieve high dielectric constant and low resistance. By minimizing oxygen vacancies and suppressing grain growth in BT materials, the temperature and voltage stability of MLCCs have been improved, leading to the development of MLCCs with diverse properties. However, the maximum dielectric constant of approximately 3000 in BT materials poses a limitation in overcoming the trade-off between rated voltage and capacitance density. Therefore, ultra-high permittivity dielectric materials have gained attention to meet the requirements of ultra-high-performance MLCCs, and ongoing research focuses on enhancing the temperature and frequency stability of these materials. This review analyzes the characteristics and limitations of conventional BT materials and explores recent research trends and future potential in developing new MLCCs based on ultra-high dielectric constant materials.