Degradable piezoelectric biomaterials for wearable and implantable bioelectronics

Abstract

Current bioelectronics are facing a paradigm shift from old-fashioned unrecyclable materials to green and degradable functional materials with desired biocompatibility. As an essential electromechanical coupling component in many bioelectronics, new piezoelectric materials are being developed with biodegradability, as well as desired mechanical and electromechanical properties for the next generation implantable and wearable bioelectronics. In this review, we provide an overview of the major advancements in biodegradable piezoelectric materials. Different natural (such as peptide, amino acids, proteins, cellulose, chitin, silk, collagen, and M13 phage) and synthetic piezoelectric materials (such as polylactic acid) are discussed to reveal the underlying electromechanical coupling mechanism at the molecular level, together with typical approaches to the alignment of orientation and polarization to boost their electromechanical performance. Meanwhile, in vivo and in vitro degradation manners of those piezoelectric materials are summarized and compared. Representative developments of typical electronic prototypes leveraging these materials are also discussed. At last, challenges toward practical applications are pointed out together with potential research opportunities that might be critical in this new materials research area.

Detection of Type I and III collagen in porcine acellular matrix using HPLC–MS

“…The degradation of implanted-collagen in vivo was usually detected by the radioactive labeling or Sirius red method, etc. The HPLC−MS method could detect the residue of collagen-based biomaterial by detection of marker peptides, avoiding the influence from the tissue collagen [ 41 , 42 ]. The HPLC−MS method could also be used to develop the composite materials by cross-linking the collagen with other materials [ 12 , 13 ].…”

The intrinsic piezoelectric properties of materials – a review with a focus on biological materials

“…Compared to traditional piezoelectric ceramics, piezoelectric coefficients for each biological material span over a much wider range, sometimes over several orders of magnitude. 21,25,165 Since piezoelectricity is a material intrinsic property, the piezoelectric coefficient of a material measured at a condition should be consistent. 25 A large discrepancy in the measured values from biological materials in particular raises a question of whether the reported piezoelectric coefficients originate solely from the piezoelectric properties of each material.…”

Wearable and Implantable Electroceuticals for Therapeutic Electrostimulations

“…Recently, Wang et al developed a confinement-cell technology that led to large-scale self-assembly of vertical cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), demonstrating the highest piezoelectric property compared to other CNC-based films. [62] Moving forward, more natural piezoelectric materials extracted from plants and animals, such as fish gelatin, [63] biowaste fish skin, [64,65] diphenylalanine (FF) peptide, silk, [66][67][68][69] and bones are of substantial interests.…”