Orthotropic Piezoelectricity in 2D Nanocellulose

TL;DR

This paper predicts that 2D Iβ-nanocellulose exhibits significant orthotropic piezoelectricity due to unique hydrogen bonding patterns, offering potential for nanotechnologies and energy applications.

Contribution

It introduces Iβ-nanocellulose as a new orthotropic 2D piezoelectric material and models its electrical response at the bond scale using ab-initio and specialized models.

Findings

Predicted piezoelectric response magnitude of ~pm V-1.

Identified hydrogen bonds as key to piezoelectricity.

Comparable to existing piezoelectric energy materials.

Abstract

The control of electromechanical responses within bonding regions is essential to face frontier challenges in nanotechnologies, such as molecular electronics and biotechnology. Here, we present I\b{eta}-nanocellulose as a potentially new orthotropic 2D piezoelectric crystal. The predicted in-layer piezoelectricity is originated on a sui-generis hydrogen bonds pattern. Upon this fact and by using a combination of ab-initio and ad-hoc models, we introduce a description of electrical profiles along chemical bonds. Such developments lead to obtain a rationale for modelling the extended piezoelectric effect originated within bond scales. The order of magnitude estimated for the 2D I\b{eta}-nanocellulose piezoelectric response, ~pm V-1, ranks this material at the level of currently used piezoelectric energy generators and new artificial 2D designs. Such finding would be crucial for developing alternative materials to drive emerging nanotechnologies.