Due to the nature of domains, ferroics, including ferromagnetic, ferroelectric, and ferroelastic materials, exhibit hysteresis phenomena with respect to external driving fields (magnetic field, electric field, or stress). In principle, every ferroic material has its own hysteresis loop, like a fingerprint, which contains information related to its properties and structures. For ferroelectrics, many characteristic parameters, such as coercive field, spontaneous, and remnant polarizations can be directly extracted from the hysteresis loops. Furthermore, many impact factors, including the effect of materials (grain size and grain boundary, phase and phase boundary, doping, anisotropy, thickness), aging (with and without poling), and measurement conditions (applied field amplitude, fatigue, frequency, temperature, stress), can affect the hysteretic behaviors of the ferroelectrics. In this feature article, we will first give the background of the ferroic materials and multiferroics, with an emphasis on ferroelectrics. Then it is followed by an introduction of the characterizing techniques for the loops, including the polarization–electric field loops and strain–electric field curves. A caution is made to avoid misinterpretation of the loops due to the existence of conductivity. Based on their morphologic features, the hysteresis loops are categorized to four groups and the corresponding material usages are introduced. The impact factors on the hysteresis loops are discussed based on recent developments in ferroelectric and related materials. It is suggested that decoding the fingerprint of loops in ferroelectrics is feasible and the comprehension of the material properties and structures through the hysteresis loops is established.

Decoding the Fingerprint of Ferroelectric Loops: Comprehension of the Material Properties and Structures

Advantages and Challenges of Relaxor-PbTiO3 Ferroelectric Crystals for Electroacoustic Transducers- A Review.

The generalized Langevin equation describes processes in a mechanical system with both deterministic and random forces which have comparable magnitudes (i.e., neither the deterministic nor random part can be neglected) and the random force is a transformed white noise. Examples of such processes are well known in physics. In this chapter, we use integral operators with Riemannian parallel translation in order to study the Langevin equations arising in geometric mechanics. Note that in the case under consideration the trajectories of the process are a.s. smooth. This makes the analysis of such systems technically much simpler than that of the general ones studied in Chap. 4.

The Langevin Equation

Increase in industrial and anthropogenic activities leads to a decline in water quality. This necessitates the need for the removal of contaminants from industrial and domestic wastewater. Clay minerals are naturally abundant and non-toxic materials that found to be useful for remediation of emerging contaminants from wastewater. This review paper presents an insight into clay, the simplest material (in solgel techniques) for the synthesis of TiO2 and ZnO, mechanisms of their reactions, analytical techniques used for characterizations, and their nanocomposites for wastewater treatment. Nanomaterials, such as nanoclay, titanium, and zinc oxide, have offered the opportunities of sequestering variety of pollutants in wastewater. TiO2 and ZnO anchored on clay have been found to be good promising sequesters and have been explored for wastewater remediation via nanotechnology. This water treatment method includes adsorption/absorption, photocatalysis, and microbial disinfection. These nanocomposites provide more active surface sites and reduce the agglomeration of the nanoparticles, but leaching has been their shortcomings. To overcome this, the filtration technique may become significant for the removal and avoidance of fouling of wastewater. This can be achieved through the fabrication of nano-based filters using the nanocomposites.

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Application of TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles immobilized on clay in wastewater treatment: a review

Enhancing piezoelectric properties of BCZT ceramics by Sr and Sn co-doping

Lead oxide-based ferroelectrics, represented by lead zirconate titanate [Pb(Zr,Ti)O3] or PZT), are the most widely used materials for piezoelectric actuators, sensors, and transducers due to their excellent piezoelectric properties. Most of these piezoelectric materials are employed under a variety of strains (stress, electrical field, and temperature). It would thus be interesting to predict their behaviors under different excitations without having to perform too much experimental work, i.e., just carry out a single experiment and still be able to provide the other experimental values. The purpose of this paper has thus been to propose several behavioral laws linking the electrical field, temperature and mechanical stress. The first law rendered it possible to express the mechanical stress by an equivalent electric field [ΔE≡αΔT×P(E,T0)]. Subsequently, a law linking the electrical field and temperature {ΔE≡[2β×P(E,θ0)]×Δθ} was proposed. From these two laws, a third law was identified reflecting the mech...

Nonlinearity and scaling behavior in a soft lead zirconate titanate piezoceramic

Mechanism of depolarization with temperature for (1 -x)Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-xPbTiO3 single crystals

Composition dependence of 90° domain switching in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)1−xTixO3 system

Nanotechnology is all about making products from very small constituents, components or subsystems to gain greatly enhanced material properties and functionality. Nanocrystalline anatase TiO2 was prepared by a facile sol–gel route at a temperature of 50°C under mild conditions. Titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) was used as a titanium precursor, and 2-propanol was used as a solvent. XRD, TEM, SEM, FT-IR and BET were applied to characterize the crystal phase. The Crystalline size of TiO2 powder has been obtained with diameter < 30 nm for anatase at 500°C using an acid.

K. Benkhouja

Papers

Nonlinearity and scaling behavior in a soft lead zirconate titanate piezoceramic

Mechanism of depolarization with temperature for (1 -x)Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-xPbTiO3 single crystals

Composition dependence of 90° domain switching in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)1−xTixO3 system

Synthesis of nanosized TiO2 powder by sol gel method at low temperature

Investigation of superfast deposition of metal oxide and Diamond-Like Carbon thin films by nanosecond Ytterbium (Yb+) fiber laser