This paper provides a brief review of current research activities that focus on the synthesis and controlled assembly of inorganic nanofibers by electrospinning, their electrical, optical and magnetic properties, as well as their applications in various areas including sensors, catalysts, batteries, filters and separators. We begin with a brief introduction to electrospinning technology and a brief method to produce ceramic nanofibers from electrospinning. We then discuss approaches to the co...

Most widely used piezoelectric ceramics are based on Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) composition which has adverse environmental and health effects due to its high lead content. Environmental and safety concerns with respect to the utilization, recycling, and disposal of lead-based piezoelectric ceramics have induced a new surge in developing lead-free piezoelectric ceramics. Among all the lead-free ceramics, (K,Na)NbO₃ (KNN) has drawn increasing attention because of its well-balanced...

The indentation hardness of a given material is usually load-dependent and such a phenomenon is generally referred to as the indentation size effect (ISE). The existence of ISE means that, if hardness is used as a material selection criterion, it is clearly insufficient to quote a single hardness number. Several empirical or semi-empirical equations, including the Meyer's law, the Hays-Kendall approach, the energy-balance approach, the proportional specimen resistance (PSR) model ...

XRD measurements were carried out on plasma sprayed titanates BaTiO₃, CaTiO₃, MgTiO₃ and a mixture of the last two. Samples were tested as dielectrics and volume resistivities of the materials were also summarized. Microwave microscopy was used for mapping of the dielectric response of selected samples. The results show differences in the crystal structure between plasma sprayed coatings and feedstock powders in the case of BaTiO₃ and MgTiO₃