Control of piezoelectricity in amino acids by supramolecular packing

Sarah Guerin; Aimee Stapleton; Drahomir Chovan; Rabah Mouras; Matthew Gleeson; Cian McKeown; Mohamed Radzi Noor; Christophe Silien; Fernando M.F. Rhen; Andrei L. Kholkin; Ning Liu; Tewfik Soulimane; Syed A.M. Tofail; Damien Thompson

doi:10.1038/NMAT5045

Control of piezoelectricity in amino acids by supramolecular packing

Sarah Guerin, Aimee Stapleton, Drahomir Chovan, Rabah Mouras, Matthew Gleeson, Cian McKeown, Mohamed Radzi Noor, Christophe Silien, Fernando M.F. Rhen, Andrei L. Kholkin, Ning Liu, Tewfik Soulimane, Syed A.M. Tofail, Damien Thompson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Piezoelectricity, the linear relationship between stress and induced electrical charge, has attracted recent interest due to its manifestation in biological molecules such as synthetic polypeptides or amino acid crystals, including gamma (γ) glycine. It has also been demonstrated in bone, collagen, elastin and the synthetic bone mineral hydroxyapatite. Piezoelectric coefficients exhibited by these biological materials are generally low, typically in the range of 0.1-10 pm V(-1), limiting technological applications. Guided by quantum mechanical calculations we have measured a high shear piezoelectricity (178 pm V(-1)) in the amino acid crystal beta (β) glycine, which is of similar magnitude to barium titanate or lead zirconate titanate. Our calculations show that the high piezoelectric coefficients originate from an efficient packing of the molecules along certain crystallographic planes and directions. The highest predicted piezoelectric voltage constant for β-glycine crystals is 8 V mN(-1), which is an order of magnitude larger than the voltage generated by any currently used ceramic or polymer.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	180-186
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature Materials
Volume	17
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT5045
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2018

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title = "Control of piezoelectricity in amino acids by supramolecular packing",

abstract = "Piezoelectricity, the linear relationship between stress and induced electrical charge, has attracted recent interest due to its manifestation in biological molecules such as synthetic polypeptides or amino acid crystals, including gamma (γ) glycine. It has also been demonstrated in bone, collagen, elastin and the synthetic bone mineral hydroxyapatite. Piezoelectric coefficients exhibited by these biological materials are generally low, typically in the range of 0.1-10 pm V(-1), limiting technological applications. Guided by quantum mechanical calculations we have measured a high shear piezoelectricity (178 pm V(-1)) in the amino acid crystal beta (β) glycine, which is of similar magnitude to barium titanate or lead zirconate titanate. Our calculations show that the high piezoelectric coefficients originate from an efficient packing of the molecules along certain crystallographic planes and directions. The highest predicted piezoelectric voltage constant for β-glycine crystals is 8 V mN(-1), which is an order of magnitude larger than the voltage generated by any currently used ceramic or polymer.",

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AU - Guerin, Sarah

AU - Stapleton, Aimee

AU - Chovan, Drahomir

AU - Mouras, Rabah

AU - Gleeson, Matthew

AU - McKeown, Cian

AU - Noor, Mohamed Radzi

AU - Silien, Christophe

AU - Rhen, Fernando M.F.

AU - Kholkin, Andrei L.

AU - Liu, Ning

AU - Soulimane, Tewfik

AU - Tofail, Syed A.M.

AU - Thompson, Damien

PY - 2018/2/1

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N2 - Piezoelectricity, the linear relationship between stress and induced electrical charge, has attracted recent interest due to its manifestation in biological molecules such as synthetic polypeptides or amino acid crystals, including gamma (γ) glycine. It has also been demonstrated in bone, collagen, elastin and the synthetic bone mineral hydroxyapatite. Piezoelectric coefficients exhibited by these biological materials are generally low, typically in the range of 0.1-10 pm V(-1), limiting technological applications. Guided by quantum mechanical calculations we have measured a high shear piezoelectricity (178 pm V(-1)) in the amino acid crystal beta (β) glycine, which is of similar magnitude to barium titanate or lead zirconate titanate. Our calculations show that the high piezoelectric coefficients originate from an efficient packing of the molecules along certain crystallographic planes and directions. The highest predicted piezoelectric voltage constant for β-glycine crystals is 8 V mN(-1), which is an order of magnitude larger than the voltage generated by any currently used ceramic or polymer.

AB - Piezoelectricity, the linear relationship between stress and induced electrical charge, has attracted recent interest due to its manifestation in biological molecules such as synthetic polypeptides or amino acid crystals, including gamma (γ) glycine. It has also been demonstrated in bone, collagen, elastin and the synthetic bone mineral hydroxyapatite. Piezoelectric coefficients exhibited by these biological materials are generally low, typically in the range of 0.1-10 pm V(-1), limiting technological applications. Guided by quantum mechanical calculations we have measured a high shear piezoelectricity (178 pm V(-1)) in the amino acid crystal beta (β) glycine, which is of similar magnitude to barium titanate or lead zirconate titanate. Our calculations show that the high piezoelectric coefficients originate from an efficient packing of the molecules along certain crystallographic planes and directions. The highest predicted piezoelectric voltage constant for β-glycine crystals is 8 V mN(-1), which is an order of magnitude larger than the voltage generated by any currently used ceramic or polymer.

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JO - Nature Materials

JF - Nature Materials

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Control of piezoelectricity in amino acids by supramolecular packing

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