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

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VIEWED BY OTHERS MOLECULAR ENGINEERING OF PIEZOELECTRICITY IN COLLAGEN-MIMICKING PEPTIDE ASSEMBLIES Article Open access 11 May 2021 ACTIVE SELF-ASSEMBLY OF PIEZOELECTRIC BIOMOLECULAR FILMS

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Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors thank E. O’Connell, A. Stewart and U. Bangert for use of their optical microscope. This publication has emanated from research conducted with

the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund under Grant Number 13/RC/2073. D.T. acknowledges support from SFI

under Grant Number 15/CDA/3491, and for provision of computing resources at the SFI/Higher Education Authority Irish Center for High-End Computing (ICHEC). A.L.K. acknowledges support from

CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials (Ref. FCT UID/CTM/50011/2013), financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when applicable co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership

Agreement. Funding from the Irish Research Council EMBARK Postgraduate Scholarship (RS/2012/337) to A.S. is acknowledged. S.A.M.T. acknowledges Enterprise Ireland and Erasmus for their

long-standing support and funding. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Physics, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland Sarah Guerin, Aimee Stapleton, Drahomir

Chovan, Rabah Mouras, Matthew Gleeson, Cian McKeown, Christophe Silien, Fernando M. F. Rhen, Ning Liu, Syed A. M. Tofail & Damien Thompson * Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, V94

T9PX, Ireland Sarah Guerin, Aimee Stapleton, Drahomir Chovan, Rabah Mouras, Matthew Gleeson, Cian McKeown, Mohamed Radzi Noor, Christophe Silien, Fernando M. F. Rhen, Ning Liu, Tewfik

Soulimane, Syed A. M. Tofail & Damien Thompson * Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland Mohamed Radzi Noor & Tewfik Soulimane * Department of

Physics & CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal Andrei L. Kholkin * School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University,

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S.G. performed the computer simulations. S.G. and A.S. performed piezoelectric experiments. S.G. and D.C. determined crystallographic orientations and the magnitude of polarization in

glycine polymorphs. S.G. grew glycine crystals in collaboration with M.R.N., T.S. and A.L.K. R.M. performed Raman characterization and mapping. M.G. performed XRD analysis under supervision

of N.L. and C.S. C.M. performed SEM characterization under supervision of F.M.F.R. S.A.M.T. and D.T. designed and supervised the project. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

CORRESPONDING AUTHORS Correspondence to Syed A. M. Tofail or Damien Thompson. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. SUPPLEMENTARY

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Chovan, D. _et al._ Control of piezoelectricity in amino acids by supramolecular packing. _Nat. Mater._ 17, 180–186 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat5045 Download citation * Received: 02

January 2017 * Accepted: 31 October 2017 * Published: 04 December 2017 * Issue Date: 01 February 2018 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat5045 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the

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