# 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.

## Key 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.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1706.05072