A series of receiving type piezoelectric composites were designed and fabricated by cutting and filling technique. The piezoelectric composites were also optimized from such aspects as matrix phase, functional phase and composite connectivity. The researches show that these piezoelectric composites have larger piezoelectric voltage factor, thickness electromechanical coupling coefficient and lower acoustic impedance than the pure piezoelectric ceramic. The early cement hydration reaction process monitoring result indicates that the ultrasonic wave receiving ability of the piezoelectric composite is obviously better than that of the pure piezoelectric ceramic. Therefore, these kinds of piezoelectric composites have potential application prospect in cement hydration reaction process monitoring. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.