Olga graduated from the Institute of Nanotechnology, Electronics and Instrumentation of the Southern Federal University with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Nanotechnology and Microsystem Engineering.

"In the first year of the bachelor's degree, we got acquainted with the teachers of the department and found out what kind of scientific work they were doing. Towards the end of the year, we were offered a chance to see how the equipment works. That's how I got to Marina Ilyina, PhD, Associate Professor of the Department of Nanotechnology and Microsystem Engineering. At first, she mastered the work of the atomic force microscope, learned what research methods can be used with its help. And then I began to delve more into the topic of studying the properties of carbon nanotubes," Olga Soboleva said.

In 2024, Olga's project "Development and research of piezoelectric sensors based on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes" became the winner of the competition for a scholarship from the President of the Russian Federation for young scientists and graduate students.

According to the young scientist, the field of wearable electronics has been actively developing in recent years, and it has become necessary to develop devices that are able to detect the slightest movements, such as blinking, finger movement, pulse, and convert them into an electrical signal. Such sensors can be used in medicine to monitor human health, as well as in robotics to create artificial skin or robot control devices. The main problem in such sensors, as Olga noted, is the selection of a functional material that has high sensitivity to deformation, flexibility, strength and scalability.

"Piezoelectric materials are best suited for these purposes, in particular nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes with abnormal piezoelectric properties, which we are investigating. As part of the dissertation work, it is planned to conduct research on the influence of ambient temperature, nitrogen concentration and nanotube density in the array on the output parameters of the sensitive element of the piezoelectric strain sensor, as well as to develop a design and technological route for manufacturing a piezoelectric sensor, manufacturing a sensor layout and studying its output parameters," Olga Soboleva explained.

She also added that at this stage, the literature on piezoelectric strain sensors has been analyzed and studies have been conducted on the effect of nitrogen concentration and the aspect ratio of length to diameter on the sensitivity of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes to deformations. 

The young scientist works under the guidance of Marina Ilyina. During her studies, Olga Soboleva took part in nine projects as a performer. The main ones are: RNF No.22-79-10163 "Development of piezoelectric nanogenerators based on vertically oriented carbon nanotubes doped with nitrogen" (head Marina Ilyina), FENW-2022-0001 "Development of the fundamental principles of technologies for the synthesis of functional nanomaterials for an energy-efficient element base of micro- and nanoelectronics, sensor devices, energy conversion and neuromorphic systems" (head, Associate Professor, leading researcher at the Research Laboratory of Functional Nanomaterials Technology Oleg Ilyin), RNF No. 20-79-00284 "Development of physical and technological foundations for the creation of nanogenerators based on flexo- and piezoelectric effects in oriented carbon nanotubes" (head Marina Ilyina). The project "Development of a piezoelectric deformation sensor based on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes", supported by the UMNIK program, is also currently in the works.