Majid Minary-Jolandan

A Review of Mechanical and Electromechanical Properties of Piezoelectric Nanowires

Piezoelectric nanowires are promising building blocks in nanoelectronic, sensing, actuation and nanogenerator systems. In spite of great progress in synthesis methods, quantitative mechanical and electromechanical characterization of these nanostructures is still limited. In this article, the state-of-the art in experimental and computational studies of mechanical and electromechanical properties of piezoelectric nanowires is reviewed with an emphasis on size effects. The review covers existing characterization and analysis methods and summarizes data reported in the literature. It also provides an assessment of research needs and opportunities. Throughout the discussion, the importance of coupling experimental and computational studies is highlighted. This is crucial for obtaining unambiguous size effects of nanowire properties, which truly reflect the effect of scaling rather than a particular synthesis route. We show that such a combined approach is critical to establish synthesis-structure-property relations that will pave the way for optimal usage of piezoelectric nanowires.

Nanoscale characterization of isolated individual type I collagen fibrils: polarization and piezoelectricity

Piezoresponse force microscopy was applied to directly study individual type I collagen fibrils with diameters of approximately 100 nm isolated from bovine Achilles tendon. It was revealed that single collagen fibrils behave predominantly as shear piezoelectric materials with a piezoelectric coefficient on the order of 1 pm V(-1), and have unipolar axial polarization throughout their entire length. It was estimated that, under reasonable shear load conditions, the fibrils were capable of generating an electric potential up to tens of millivolts. The result substantiates the nanoscale origin of piezoelectricity in bone and tendons, and implies also the potential importance of the shear load-transfer mechanism, which has been the principle basis of the nanoscale mechanics model of collagen, in mechanoelectric transduction in bone.

Individual GaN Nanowires Exhibit Strong Piezoelectricity in 3D

Semiconductor GaN NWs are promising components in next generation nano- and optoelectronic systems. In addition to their direct band gap, they exhibit piezoelectricity, which renders them particularly attractive in energy harvesting applications for self-powered devices. Nanowires are often considered as one-dimensional nanostructures; however, the electromechanical coupling leads to a third rank tensor that for wurtzite crystals (GaN NWs) possesses three independent coefficients, d(33), d(13), and d(15). Therefore, the full piezoelectric characterization of individual GaN NWs requires application of electric fields in different directions and measurements of associated displacements on the order of several picometers. In this Letter, we present an experimental approach based on scanning probe microscopy to directly quantify the three-dimensional piezoelectric response of individual GaN NWs. Experimental results reveal that GaN NWs exhibit strong piezoelectricity in three dimensions, with up to six times the effect in bulk. Based on finite element modeling, this finding has major implication on the design of energy harvesting systems exhibiting unprecedented levels of power density production. The presented method is applicable to other piezoelectric NW materials as well as wires manufactured along different crystallographic orientations.

Nanomechanical Heterogeneity in the Gap and Overlap Regions of Type I Collagen Fibrils with Implications for Bone Heterogeneity

The microstructure of type I collagen, consisting of alternating gap and overlap regions with a characteristic D period of approximately 67 nm, enables multifunctionalities of collagen fibrils in different tissues. Implementing near-surface dynamic and static nanoindentation techniques with atomic force microscope, we reveal mechanical heterogeneity along the axial direction of a single isolated collagen fibril from tendon and show that, within the D period, the gap and overlap regions have significantly different elastic and energy dissipation properties, correlating the significantly different molecular structures in these two regions. We further show that such subfibrillar heterogeneity holds in collagen fibrils inside bone and might be intrinsically related to the excellent energy dissipation performance of bone.

Uncovering Nanoscale Electromechanical Heterogeneity in the Subfibrillar Structure of Collagen Fibrils Responsible for the Piezoelectricity of Bone

Understanding piezoelectricity, the linear electromechanical transduction, in bone and tendon and its potential role in mechanoelectric transduction leading to their growth and remodeling remains a challenging subject. With high-resolution piezoresponse force microscopy, we probed piezoelectric behavior in relevant biological samples at different scale levels: from the subfibrillar structures of single isolated collagen fibrils to bone. We revealed that, beyond the general understanding of collagen fibril being a piezoelectric material, there existed an intrinsic piezoelectric heterogeneity within a collagen fibril coinciding with the periodic variation of its gap and overlap regions. This piezoelectric heterogeneity persisted even for the collagen fibrils embedded in bone, bringing about new implications for its possible roles in structural formation and remodeling of bone.

Large-Area Deposition of MoS2 by Pulsed Laser Deposition with In Situ Thickness Control

A scalable and catalyst-free method to deposit stoichiometric molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) films over large areas is reported, with the maximum area limited by the size of the substrate holder. The method allows deposition of MoS2 layers on a wide range of substrates without any additional surface preparation, including single-crystal (sapphire and quartz), polycrystalline (HfO2), and amorphous (SiO2) substrates. The films are deposited using carefully designed MoS2 targets fabricated with excess sulfur and variable MoS2 and sulfur particle size. Uniform and layered MoS2 films as thin as two monolayers, with an electrical resistivity of 1.54 × 10(4) Ω cm(-1), were achieved. The MoS2 stoichiometry was confirmed by high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. With the method reported here, in situ graded MoS2 films ranging from ∼1 to 10 monolayers can be deposited.

Nano/microscale pyroelectric energy harvesting: challenges and opportunities

With the ever-growing demand for renewable energy sources, energy harvesting from natural resources has gained much attention. Energy sources such as heat and mechanical motion could be easily harvested based on pyroelectric, thermoelectric, and piezoelectric effects. The energy harvested from otherwise wasted energy in the environment can be utilized in self-powered micro and nano devices, and wearable electronics, which required only µW–mW power. This article reviews pyroelectric energy harvesting with an emphasis on recent developments in pyroelectric energy harvesting and devices at micro/nanoscale. Recent developments are presented and future challenges and opportunities for more efficient materials and devices with higher energy conversion efficiency are also discussed.

Reversible radial deformation up to the complete flattening of carbon nanotubes in nanoindentation

The reversible flattening up to 60% deformation of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was revealed with nanoindentation. The nanoindentation induced, in terms of indentation force versus indentation depth, two linear deformation responses and a nonlinear one in between in the measurement of an ∼9nm diameter MWCNT having six walls. A continuum shell model was applied and found to be fully capable of describing the observed behavior and extracting accurate mechanical properties of the MWCNT. The measured linear deformation persisted up to an indentation depth twice the shell thickness of the MWCNT, a behavior much like a macroscopic thin shell in classical shell theory. Nonlinear deformation was subsequently introduced due to the extended flattening of the MWCNT in the axial direction and the formation of high curvature “bulbs” along the edges of a squashed MWCNT. Finally, the elastic deformation of such bulbs initiated the second linear deformation response. The deformation behavior was found...

High-Performance Coils and Yarns of Polymeric Piezoelectric Nanofibers

We report on highly stretchable piezoelectric structures of electrospun PVDF-TrFE nanofibers. We fabricated nanofibrous PVDF-TrFE yarns via twisting their electrospun ribbons. Our results show that the twisting process not only increases the failure strain but also increases overall strength and toughness. The nanofibrous yarns achieved a remarkable energy to failure of up to 98 J/g. Through overtwisting process, we fabricated polymeric coils out of twisted yarns that stretched up to ∼740% strain. This enhancement in mechanical properties is likely induced by increased interactions between nanofibers, contributed by friction and van der Waals interactions, as well as favorable surface charge (Columbic) interactions as a result of piezoelectric effect, for which we present a theoretical model. The fabricated yarns and coils show great promise for applications in high-performance lightweight structural materials and superstretchable piezoelectric devices and flexible energy harvesting applications.

Alginate-Collagen Fibril Composite Hydrogel

We report on the synthesis and the mechanical characterization of an alginate-collagen fibril composite hydrogel. Native type I collagen fibrils were used to synthesize the fibrous composite hydrogel. We characterized the mechanical properties of the fabricated fibrous hydrogel using tensile testing; rheometry and atomic force microscope (AFM)-based nanoindentation experiments. The results show that addition of type I collagen fibrils improves the rheological and indentation properties of the hydrogel.