Novel Ceramic Materials

The book presents a number of novel ceramic materials that have great potential for advanced technological applications, such as microwave devices, communication instruments and memory devices. The materials covered include piezoelectric ceramics, zirconia ceramics, doped NiO ceramic nanostructures, BST ceramics (Barium-Strontium-Titanates), manganite ceramics, Ce-doped LaMnO3 and Sb-doped NKN (Sodium-Potassium-Niobates), as well as materials with ferrite structures, and with multi-ferroic structures The materials were characterized experimentally by means of XRD (X-ray diffraction), SEM (Scanning electron microscopy), EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis), UV-Visible Spectroscopy, and VSM (Vibrating sample magnetometer). The results are discussed in terms of the structural characteristics of the various crystal structures, their special surface morphology, and their optical and magnetic properties. Of particular interest is the determination of the electron density distribution (on the basis of XRD data and computerized evaluations). These data elucidate the atomic/electronic structure of the materials and make us understand the specific characteristics of these novel ceramics.