Researchers at the University of Limerick in Ireland have developed a groundbreaking technique for generating eco-friendly energy using organic crystals, a significant advancement with the potential to revolutionize consumer electronics and medical devices.
The innovative method, pioneered by the Actuate Lab in the university's Department of Chemical Sciences and Bernal Institute, involves growing organic crystals that can harvest energy when pressured. This energy is produced by compressing amino acid molecules -- the fundamental components of proteins in the human body.
Termed piezoelectricity, which translates from Greek to "pressing electricity," this phenomenon is typically associated with ceramics or polymers but is also present in human biomolecules.
The UL research team has harnessed this property by utilizing predictive computer models to determine the electricity generated by a biological material under pressure. The outcome is materials suitable to power sensors in consumer electronics and medical devices.
The team's latest breakthrough, as published in the journal Physical Review Letters, enables them to shape these crystals with silicon molds, forming them into any required configuration.
Potential applications range from elements in medical devices to components in phone microphones or car sensors. These custom-shaped discs and plates can generate a voltage that, if amplified, could power electronic devices using everyday physical forces.
Lead author Krishna Hari, a UL doctoral student, emphasized the significance of their work.
"The versatile moulding technique that we have developed is a low-cost, low-temperature growth method that opens the path to phase in biomolecular piezoelectrics as high-performance, eco-friendly alternatives to currently used ceramics," she said in a news release.
Co-author Sarah Guerin, a UL associate professor who was awarded Research Ireland (SFI) Early Career Researcher of the Year in 2023, expressed her optimism about the advancement's potential impact.
"We hope it will be a game changer for the whole field because there are many scientists trying to grow biological crystals that are still behaving in a chaotic way," Geurin said in the news release. "I am excited to see if this takes off as a methodology for other people working in sustainable piezoelectrics."
The implications of this breakthrough extend to the potential removal of environmentally detrimental materials such as lead from consumer electronics:
"There are EU regulations around the use of lead, but piezoelectrics are one of the last remaining mainstream technologies allowed to contain this substance because there is no high-performance alternative," added Guerin. "There are about 4,000 tons of lead-based electronic waste generated from these sensors every year, and this research has the potential to remove this waste from the manufacturing process."