Electromechanical Properties in Composites Based on Ferroelectrics

Vitaly Yuryevich Topolov is Professor of the Department of Physics at the Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don, Russia). His research interests include heterogeneous ferroelectrics, smart materials, domain and heterophase structures, as well as electromechanical effects in ferroelectrics and related materials. Dr. V. Yu. Topolov has been included in the list of Active Russian Scientists whose papers have been cited over 100 times in periodicals from 2000 to 2006. Christopher Rhys Bowen is a Reader at the University of Bath, UK. The research interests of Dr. C. R. Bowen are concerned with functional ceramics, including ferroelectric ceramics and composites for modern sensors and actuators, as well as with manufacturing and characterization of these materials.

• From Smart Materials to Piezo-composites.- Effective Electromechanical Properties in Piezo-composites.- Non-monotonic Volume-fraction Dependences of Effective Properties in ?–? Ceramic / Polymer Piezo-composites.- Piezoelectric Response of Porous Ceramic and Composite Materials Based on (Pb, Zr)TiO3.- Effective Properties in Novel Piezo-composites Based on Relaxor-ferroelectric Single Crystals.- Comparison of Results on Two-component Piezo-composites.- Conclusions.