Research Overview

Dr. Dolgos' current work in this area aims to find new materials for electronic applications. Her research group's efforts include materials for piezoelectric and ferroelectric devices, batteries, and fuel cells.  The group synthesizes new materials and also develops improved synthetic routes for known materials.

They measure the electromechanical properties of each system and use x-ray and neutron diffraction to characterize the local and average structure.  Studying the relationship between the structure and properties allows them to gain an understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to specific behaviors. 

Dr. Dolgos' group has developed a process to use polyoxometallates as precursors for solution processed ferroelectric and piezoelectric thin films. They use aqueous chemistry, which reduces the waste and toxicity of the process.  

This technique allows the fabrication of high quality films with structural properties that rival what is produced by physical deposition techniques. In addition, the technique allows for precise control of stoichiometry and thickness, resulting in homogenous, crack-free films.  

The group's work on the structural characterization of amorphous and nanocrystalline materials links their properties to theoretical descriptions of their electronic band structures and density of states, providing atomistic-level detail of their structure-property relationships. Because the lack of long-range ordering makes it difficult to determine the structure with traditional techniques, little is known about the structures of these materials.

To overcome these challenges, Dr. Dolgos' group works at the forefront of both experimental and computational analysis of amorphous and nanocrystalline materials.