Local Piezoelectric Properties of Doped Biomolecular Crystals
Piezoelectricity is the ability of certain crystals to generate mechanical strain proportional to an external electric field. Though many biomolecular crystals contain polar molecules, they are frequently centrosymmetric, signifying that the dipole moments of constituent molecules cancel each other....
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doaj-db2ba2c702704ca79937be4db9c195c92021-09-09T13:51:08ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442021-08-01144922492210.3390/ma14174922Local Piezoelectric Properties of Doped Biomolecular CrystalsAndrei Kholkin0Denis Alikin1Vladimir Shur2Shiri Dishon3David Ehre4Igor Lubomirsky5School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University, 620000 Ekaterinburg, RussiaSchool of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University, 620000 Ekaterinburg, RussiaSchool of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University, 620000 Ekaterinburg, RussiaDepartment of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Herzl St 234, Rehovot 7610001, IsraelDepartment of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Herzl St 234, Rehovot 7610001, IsraelDepartment of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Herzl St 234, Rehovot 7610001, IsraelPiezoelectricity is the ability of certain crystals to generate mechanical strain proportional to an external electric field. Though many biomolecular crystals contain polar molecules, they are frequently centrosymmetric, signifying that the dipole moments of constituent molecules cancel each other. However, piezoelectricity can be induced by stereospecific doping leading to symmetry reduction. Here, we applied piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), highly sensitive to local piezoelectricity, to characterize <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mn>0</mn><mover accent="true"><mn>1</mn><mo>¯</mo></mover><mn>0</mn></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> faces of a popular biomolecular material, α-glycine, doped with other amino acids such as L-alanine and L-threonine as well as co-doped with both. We show that, while apparent vertical piezoresponse is prone to parasitic electrostatic effects, shear piezoelectric activity is strongly affected by doping. Undoped α-glycine shows no shear piezoelectric response at all. The shear response of the L-alanine doped crystals is much larger than those of the L-threonine doped crystals and co-doped crystals. These observations are rationalized in terms of host–guest molecule interactions.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/17/4922α-glycinepiezoelectricitydopingpiezoresponse force microscopy |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Andrei Kholkin Denis Alikin Vladimir Shur Shiri Dishon David Ehre Igor Lubomirsky |
spellingShingle |
Andrei Kholkin Denis Alikin Vladimir Shur Shiri Dishon David Ehre Igor Lubomirsky Local Piezoelectric Properties of Doped Biomolecular Crystals Materials α-glycine piezoelectricity doping piezoresponse force microscopy |
author_facet |
Andrei Kholkin Denis Alikin Vladimir Shur Shiri Dishon David Ehre Igor Lubomirsky |
author_sort |
Andrei Kholkin |
title |
Local Piezoelectric Properties of Doped Biomolecular Crystals |
title_short |
Local Piezoelectric Properties of Doped Biomolecular Crystals |
title_full |
Local Piezoelectric Properties of Doped Biomolecular Crystals |
title_fullStr |
Local Piezoelectric Properties of Doped Biomolecular Crystals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Local Piezoelectric Properties of Doped Biomolecular Crystals |
title_sort |
local piezoelectric properties of doped biomolecular crystals |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Materials |
issn |
1996-1944 |
publishDate |
2021-08-01 |
description |
Piezoelectricity is the ability of certain crystals to generate mechanical strain proportional to an external electric field. Though many biomolecular crystals contain polar molecules, they are frequently centrosymmetric, signifying that the dipole moments of constituent molecules cancel each other. However, piezoelectricity can be induced by stereospecific doping leading to symmetry reduction. Here, we applied piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), highly sensitive to local piezoelectricity, to characterize <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mn>0</mn><mover accent="true"><mn>1</mn><mo>¯</mo></mover><mn>0</mn></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> faces of a popular biomolecular material, α-glycine, doped with other amino acids such as L-alanine and L-threonine as well as co-doped with both. We show that, while apparent vertical piezoresponse is prone to parasitic electrostatic effects, shear piezoelectric activity is strongly affected by doping. Undoped α-glycine shows no shear piezoelectric response at all. The shear response of the L-alanine doped crystals is much larger than those of the L-threonine doped crystals and co-doped crystals. These observations are rationalized in terms of host–guest molecule interactions. |
topic |
α-glycine piezoelectricity doping piezoresponse force microscopy |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/17/4922 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT andreikholkin localpiezoelectricpropertiesofdopedbiomolecularcrystals AT denisalikin localpiezoelectricpropertiesofdopedbiomolecularcrystals AT vladimirshur localpiezoelectricpropertiesofdopedbiomolecularcrystals AT shiridishon localpiezoelectricpropertiesofdopedbiomolecularcrystals AT davidehre localpiezoelectricpropertiesofdopedbiomolecularcrystals AT igorlubomirsky localpiezoelectricpropertiesofdopedbiomolecularcrystals |
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1717759892923613184 |