Virus-based piezoelectric energy generation

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, and piezoelectric devices made of a variety of inorganic materials and organic polymers have been demonstrated. However, synthesizing such materials often requires toxic starting compounds, harsh conditions and/or complex procedures. Previously, it was shown that hierarchically organized natural materials such as bones, collagen fibrils and peptide nanotubes can display piezoelectric properties. Here, we demonstrate that the piezoelectric and liquid-crystalline properties of M13 bacteriophage (phage) can be used to generate electrical energy. Using piezoresponse force microscopy, we characterize the structure-dependent piezoelectric properties of the phage at the molecular level. We then show that self-assembled thin films of phage can exhibit piezoelectric strengths of up to 7.8 pm V(-1). We also demonstrate that it is possible to modulate the dipole strength of the phage, hence tuning the piezoelectric response, by genetically engineering the major coat proteins of the phage. Finally, we develop a phage-based piezoelectric generator that produces up to 6 nA of current and 400 mV of potential and use it to operate a liquid-crystal display. Because biotechnology techniques enable large-scale production of genetically modified phages, phage-based piezoelectric materials potentially offer a simple and environmentally friendly approach to piezoelectric energy generation.

Chemical modulation of M13 bacteriophage and its functional opportunities for nanomedicine

“…25 The viral capsid is aligned along the shaft and is composed of 2,700 copies of pVIII and ~5 copies of minor coat proteins pIII, pVI, pIX, and pVII located at either end. 21,22 The 50-residue pVIII (98% by mass) is composed of three distinct domains, namely, a negatively charged hydrophilic N-terminal domain (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), an intermediate hydrophobic domain (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39), and a positively charged domain (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)…”

“…[8][9][10] The aforementioned functionalization strategy is expected to extend its utility in the hierarchically assembled structures, which will lead to future advanced material design for a wide range of applications, including biomedical, energy, and sensing devices. Recently, many research groups have begun to use pVII and pIX minor coat proteins as alternative targets for phage display and subsequent chemoselective modification, which will be advantageous for the development of combinatorial library systems, including peptides conjugated with synthetic materials.…”

Piezoelectricity in collagen type II fibrils measured by scanning probe microscopy

“…3 Collagen and other biomaterials are thus piezoelectric and have applications as, e.g., biocompatible nanogenerators. 10 Furthermore, the converse piezoelectric effect has been linked with bone remodeling, 2 and may enable the function of piezoelectrically-induced charge on cellular interactions to be identified. While the link between charge and cellular interactions is not well understood, previous studies investigating cellular adhesion and growth on poled hydroxyapatite suggest that surface charge influences cellular response.…”

Piezoelectric peptide-based nanogenerator enhanced by single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator

“…© 2017 Author(s Piezoelectric bio-inspired materials have emerged as promising candidates for electromechanical energy conversion thanks to their biocompatibility, versatility, and mild synthesis processes. [1][2][3] Among them, diphenylalanine (FF) peptide has attracted increasing research interest due to its strong piezoelectric coefficient and the ability to produce parallel electrical dipoles. 2,4,5 Although the nanogenerator (NG) fabricated from FF peptide showed significant improvement in performance compared to other bio-inspired materials, new techniques to enhance the output are needed to expand its applications.…”