Petkov, Valeri

• V. Petkov , J. Pandey, A. Zafar, M. Jakhar, and K. Beyer "Lattice distortions and metal-insulator transition in hexagonal FeS” J. Phys. Mater. 9, 015008 (2026).
• V. Petkov , A. Zafar, M. Jakhar, AM Milinda Abeykoon and Z. Hege dues "Three-dimensional lattice modulations in the charge density wave system Lu2Ir3Si5” Phys. Rev. B 112, 224108 (2025).
• V. Petkov , A. Zafar, S. Ramakrishnan, J. R. Galeano-Cabral, K. Wei and AM Milinda Abeykoon "Close-up view of the interplay between lattice distortions and charge density waves: case study on rare-earth nickel carbides” Phys. Rev. B 112, 184107 (2025).
• Bruno Becker- Kerber, Jochen J. Brocks, Nathaly L. Archilha, Cristiane B. Rodella, Valeri Petkov, Eduardo R. deAzevedo, Tairine Pimentel, Rodrigo Garcia, Duane Petts, Janina Czas, Omid H. Ardakani, Anthony Chappaz, Ângela Albuquerque, Javier Ortega- Hernández, Rudy Lerosey-Aubril, Michael A. Kipp, Benjamin Johnson, Mathieu Thoury, Cecilia M. A. Oliveira, Hannah H. L. S. M. Pimentel, Raul O. Freitas, Flavio C. Vicentin, Luiz G. F. Borges, Jonathan Almer, Jun-Sang Park, Carla C. Polo1, Gilmar Kerber, Lucas del Mouro, Milene Figueiredo, Gustavo M. E. M. Prado, Sharif Ahmed, Miguel A. S. Basei "The rise of lichens during the colonization of terrestrial environments" Sci. Advances (cover story) 11, eadw7879 (2025).
• G. Bhavani, Srijita Chakroborty, Ramesh Mamindla, Manish K. Niranjan,K. Ramesh Kumar, Sattibabu Bhumireddi, B.H. Reddy, V. Petkov , E.S. Kannan, T. Durga Rao "Structural, magnetic, optical, dielectric and electronic properties of R2NiIrO6 (R = Pr and Nd): A comprehensive experimental and theoretical investigation” Mat. Today Comm. 49, 113844 (2025).
• Jyoti Pandey, Aliakbar Yazdani, Mukesh Jakhar, Valeri Petkov, Veronica Barone, Chi-Hao Chang, Gabriel Caruntu, Yi Ding, and Bradley D. Fahlman “From Structure to Functional Implications: Investigation of the Melon-Like Framework of Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Li-S Batteries” ACS Omega. 10, 47375 (2025).
• Han‐Wen Cheng, Jing Li, Shiyao Shan, Xiaowei Lv, Guanyu Chen, Merry Madiou, Dong Dinh, Seyed Danial Mousavi, Zhi‐Peng Wu, Shan Wang, Yazan Maswadeh, Valeri Petkov, Susan Lu, Ke Pei, Wenbin You, Renchao Che, Chuan‐Jian Zhong “In Situ/Operando Probing of Dynamic Phase Structures of Alumina-Supported Ultrasmall Copper-Gold Alloy Nanoparticles Under Reaction Conditions” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 64, e202508735 (2025).
• V. Petkov, A. Zafar, M. Jakhar and AM Milinda Abeykoon “Genesis and atomic structure of the charge density wave phase of 1T-VSe2” Phys. Rev. B 111, 014105 (2025); Editor’s suggestion.
• Complete list of papers can be found at: https://people.se.cmich.edu/petko1vg/list.html

• Ph.D., Physics, University of Sofia, Bulgaria, 1991
• M.S., Physics, University of Sofia, Bulgaria, 1983

• Applied crystallography
• X-ray (synchrotron) diffraction
• 3-D structure determination and modeling
• Magnetism
  

Research projects

• Properties of materials are predetermined by the atomic-scale structure. For example, diamonds are hard, transparent and expensive. Graphite is black, soft and cheap. Both are pure carbon though; the difference comes from the different arrangement of carbon atoms. It is a tetrahedral network in diamond and a stack of hexagonal layers in graphite. Dr. Petkov's research aims at determining the 3D atomic-scale structure of materials by x-ray diffraction and computer simulations. Research is done at CMU and synchrotron radiation facilities. Mostly, a non-traditional experimental approach, that of atomic pair distribution function analysis, is employed. Traditional crystallography (Rietveld) is done as well. Materials of current interest include glasses (metallic, silicate, phosphate, germanate, fast conductors), liquids (water), polymers (dendrimers), composites (inorganic/organic), nanoporous zeolites and carbons, ceramics (titanates, zirconates), catalysts (Mo, Au and Pt based), nanoparticles (metallic and inorganic), data storage media (optical: Ge-Sb-Te; magnetic: Pt/Pd/Fe), disordered ferro and ferri magnets (transition & rare earth metals based), and others. Funding sources include NSF, DoE, ARL and CMU.​