New application of the core-shell concept to ferroelectric nanopowders

Nano-sized ferroelectric powders have been embedded for the first time in an amorphous silica shell. Massive composites made of these nano-objects have the same ferroelectric phase-transition temperature as the related pure ferroelectric phase, showing that chemical interdiffusion between the core and the shell is moderate. This is of key importance in building physical models for computing the electrical properties of the composites.