News - full story

RESEARCHERS in the US have developed a type of piezoelectric biocompatible rubber which could scavenge electricity from body movements.

A team including scientists from Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology, led by Michael McAlpine from Princeton’s mechanical and aerospace engineering department, developed the film using nano-sized ribbons of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), a material which can convert 80% of mechanical energy into electricity.

PZT films are produced using rf-sputtering at temperatures of 600−700°C on crystalline magnesium oxide wafers and postannealed to form the perovskite crystal structure. The films are then removed from the wafers using acetone, cut into ribbons and printed onto films of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a type of silicon rubber, using a dry transfer process.

So-called piezo-rubber could have multiple applications. Worn on the body, it could power small hand-held devices such as mobile phones and personal music players. It could even be used to harvest energy from the lungs inside the body and used to power heart pacemakers, preventing the need for the surgical replacement of pacemaker batteries.

The researchers admit that some challenges remain. Future research will include looking at the mechanics of the piezoelectric on stretchable rubber and the longevity of the interface between the hard inorganic and soft polymers.

The research was published in Nano Letters (doi: 10.1021/nl903377u).