The incorporation method was employed to produce potassium sodium niobate [KNN] (K_0.5Na_0.5NbO₃) glass ceramics from the KNN-SiO₂ system. This incorporation method combines a simple mixed-oxide technique for producing KNN powder and a conventional melt-quenching technique to form the resulting glass. KNN was calcined at 800° C and subsequently mixed with SiO₂ in the KNN:SiO₂ ratio of 75:25 (mol%). The successfully produced optically transparent glass was then subjected to a heat treatment schedule at temperatures ranging from 525° C -575° C for crystallization. All glass ceramics of more than 40% transmittance crystallized into KNN nanocrystals that were rectangular in shape and dispersed well throughout the glass matrix. The crystal size and crystallinity were found to increase with increasing heat treatment temperature, which in turn plays an important role in controlling the properties of the glass ceramics, including physical, optical, and dielectric properties. The transparency of the glass samples decreased with increasing crystal size. The maximum room temperature dielectric constant (ε _r ) was as high as 474 at 10 kHz with an acceptable low loss (tanδ) around 0.02 at 10 kHz.

Lanna painting is a unique type of painting in many temples in the Northern Thai region. Similar to most mural paintings, they usually decay over time partly due to the activity of microbes. This study aimed to investigate the microorganisms from two Lanna masterpiece paintings in two temples that differ in the numbers of visitors using both culture-dependent and -independent approaches. The microorganisms isolated from the murals were also tested for the biodeterioration activities including discoloration, acid production and calcium precipitation. Most microorganisms extracted from the paintings were able to discolor the paints, but only fungi were able to discolor, produce acids and precipitate calcium. The microorganism communities, diversity and functional prediction were also investigated using the culture-independent method. The diversity of microorganisms and functional prediction were different between the two temples. Gammaproteobacteria was the predominant group of bacteria in both temples. However, the fungal communities were different between the two temples as Aspergillus was the most abundant genus in the site with higher number of visitors [Buak Krok Luang temple (BK)]. Conversely, mural paintings at Tha Kham temple (TK) were dominated by the Neodevriesia genera. We noticed that a high number of visitors (Buak Krok Luang) was correlated with microbial contamination from humans while the microbial community at Tha Kham temple had a higher proportion of saprotrophs. These results could be applied to formulate a strategy to mitigate the amount of tourists as well as manage microorganism to slow down the biodeterioration process.

A new composite system, Ba(Zr_0.07Ti_0.93)O₃ (BZT93) ceramic/NiO nanoparticles, was fabricated to investigate the effect of NiO nanoparticles on the properties of these composites. M-H hysteresis loops showed an improvement in the magnetic behavior for higher NiO content samples plus modified ferroelectric properties. However, the 1 vol.% samples showed the optimum ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties. Examination of the dielectric spectra showed that the NiO additive promoted a diffuse phase transition, and the two phase transition temperatures, as observed for BZT93, merged into a single phase transition temperature for the composite samples.

Bismuth sodium titanate (Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃; BNT) is one of the most preferred materials for the preparation of lead-free ceramics; however its dielectric property is lower than that of lead-based materials. Thus, the substitution of A and B-site cations is considered to be one of the best solutions in order to improve both the dielectric and piezoelectric properties. In this study, lead-free ceramics from bismuth sodium lanthanum titanate (Bi_0.487Na_0.487La_0.017TiO₃; BNLT) and barium titanate (BaTiO₃; BT) systems were prepared by a modified two-step mixed oxide method. BT powder was added to BNLT powder with the desired compositions of (1 − x)BNLT–xBT, where x = 0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.10. It was found that the addition of BT in the BNLT improved the electrical properties of ceramics. Phase transition of rhombohedral to tetragonal structure was significantly dependent on the amount of BT added. It was also found that the change in crystal structure affected the ferroelectric property of the ceramics where the transition from ferroelectric to antiferroelectric started from the samples with x ≥ 0.06 mol% and higher. This may be useful in terms of using these materials in the desired applications.