Ferroelectric and related phenomena in biological and bioinspired nanostructures

N. Amdursky, P. Beker, J. Schklovsky, E. Gazit, G. Rosenman*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

We review ferroelectric and related phenomena in biological materials. Also the results of the study of peptide nanotubes (PNT), which are formed by self-assembly of aromatic peptides building blocks, are presented. We describe a new preparation process for making highly ordered alignments of PNT by vapor deposition of bio-molecules. The conducted optical studies show that PNTs possess nanocrystalline ceramics structure, characterized by quantum confinement and pronounced luminescence of exciton origin. PNTs demonstrate strong second harmonic generation based on their hexagonal asymmetric structure. This bio-inspired ceramic nanostructural material shows strong piezoelectric activity, pointing to electric polarization directed along the tube axis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)107-117
Number of pages11
JournalFerroelectrics
Volume399
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
Event3rd International Symposium on Ferroelectric Domain Structuring, ISDS'09 - Ekaterinburg, Russian Federation
Duration: 13 Sep 200918 Sep 2009

Keywords

  • Peptide nanotubes
  • ferroelectricity
  • piezoelectricity
  • self-assembly

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