Project Grant 2522976

The National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research awarded Brown University $1.2 million on October 1, 2026, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to investigate electrostriction and thermal expansion in compositionally complex oxides as lead-free alternatives to conventional electromechanically active materials used in actuators, sensors, and transducers.

The project integrates computational modeling, experimental characterization, and materials informatics to predict and discover oxides with exceptional electromechanical coupling properties. Work begins with fluorite oxides and artificially structured oxide multilayers as precisely controlled model systems for testing computationally predicted structure-property relationships, then expands the search across a compositional design space to identify materials exhibiting large mechanical deformation in response to applied electric fields. The unified framework targets discovery of materials with coupled electrical, mechanical, and thermal responses applicable beyond electromechanics to energy harvesting and sensor technologies relevant to medical imaging, energy harvesting, and national security applications.

Performance occurs in Providence, Rhode Island. The award runs through September 30, 2030. This is a collaborative research project funded under the Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) initiative.