New nanotechnology has many potential applications, including harvesting clean energy to operate devices implanted in the body through the body’s natural movements. The new technology will make it possible to generate electric currents and voltage within the human body through the activation of various organs by mechanical force. The development involves a new and very strong biological material that is nontoxic and causes no harm to the body’s tissues.
The tripeptide — a very short molecule called Hyp-Phe-Phe consisting of only three amino acids — is capable of a simple process of self-assembly of forming a collagenlike helical structure that is flexible and boasts a strength similar to that of the metal titanium. The researchers examined whether the new material bears piezoelectricity.
The researchers created nanometric structures of the engineered material, and with the help of advanced nanotechnology tools, applied mechanical pressure on them. The experiment revealed that the material does indeed produce electric currents and voltage as a result of the pressure.
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