Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Professor and Team Honored with Ross Coffin Purdy Award

An article about a research project involving Stony Brook University Professor Anatoly Frenkel in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineeringreceived the Ross Coffin Purdy Award jointly with another research group.

The Purdy Award is given to the people who "made the most valuable contribution to ceramic technical literature."

"It's an honor that our collaborative work has been recognized with the Ross Coffin Purdy Award," said Frenkel.

The research projects included in the award were "Lead-free Zr-doped ceria ceramics with low permittivity displaying giant electrostriction," which was co-led by Frenkel, and "High-entropy rare earth titanates with low thermal conductivity designed by lattice distortion."

In the article, the team reported on the new material, Zr-doped cerium oxide, that exhibited giant electrostriction, meaning the material had an unusually large resistance to being changed by an electric field.The materials developed mechanical strain due to the applied electric field, but not vice versa.

The materials are very important for essential technologies - from cell phones to sonars to washing machines because they can be used as machines that convert energy into physical motion.

"What makes this project truly fascinating is that we were able to unravel the mystery of the local structure in this material - a puzzle that long eluded explanation," said Frenkel. "We suspected that the door to understanding its giant electrostriction was hidden in the fine details of the zirconium environment. Working closely with theorists, we not only found that hidden door but also the key to it, revealing how to tune electrostriction on demand."

The need for this improvement in ceramics is because existing commercial materials that deform when an electric field is applied contain lead. The lead poses serious practical and health problems. Zr-doped cerium oxide has no lead, which avoids this problem.

Frenkel was one of the three scientists leading this work, including Igor Lubomirsky (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) and Yue Qi (Brown University). Lubomirsky synthesized the material and tested its electrical and mechanical properties.

Frenkel's group, through high-resolution structural analysis conducted at the NSLS-II synchrotron at Brookhaven National Laboratory, learned that the way atoms cluster around zirconium is what gives the material its ability to move when electricity runs through it. Qi performed computer simulations to identify when an electric field is applied, the tiny clusters of atoms in the material rotate slightly. This rotation changes how the material is shaped or strained, helping it respond to electricity.

"This award highlights the outstanding impact of Professor Frenkel and his collaborators in redefining how we think about electrostrictive materials," said Dilip Gersappe, chair of the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "We are proud of this international collaboration and the recognition it brings to Stony Brook University leadership in materials science."

In addition, Frenkel applied and received funding from NSF to continue this research.

"I'm deeply grateful to my partners, Professor Igor Lubomirsky and Professor Yue Qi, with whom we combined synthesis, characterization and modeling into a seamless and truly collaborative effort," said Frenkel.

- Angelina Livigni