Virus-Directed Design of a Flexible BaTiO3 Nanogenerator

• Published in: ACS nano Vol. 7; no. 12; pp. 11016 - 11025
• Main Authors: Jeong, Chang Kyu, Kim, Insu, Park, Kwi-Il, Oh, Mi Hwa, Paik, Haemin, Hwang, Geon-Tae, No, Kwangsoo, Nam, Yoon Sung, Lee, Keon Jae
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 23.12.2013
• Subjects: Anisotropy; Bacteriophage M13 - metabolism; Barium - chemistry; Catalysis; Chelating Agents - chemistry; Finite Element Analysis; Genetic Engineering; Glutamic Acid - chemistry; Iron - chemistry; Ligands; Metals - chemistry; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nanotechnology; Phosphates - chemistry; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Solvents - chemistry; Tensile Strength; Titanium - chemistry; Viruses - chemistry; nanogenerator; barium titanate (BaTiO3); virus template; piezoelectric; biosynthesis; M13 bacteriophage
• ISSN: 1936-0851; 1936-086X
• DOI: 10.1021/nn404659d

Biotemplated synthesis of functional nanomaterials has received increasing attention for applications in energy, catalysis, bioimaging, and other technologies. This approach is justified by the unique abilities of biological systems to guide sophisticated assembly and organization of molecules and materials into distinctive nanoscale morphologies that exhibit physicochemical properties highly desirable for specific purposes. Here, we present a high-performance, flexible nanogenerator using anisotropic BaTiO3 (BTO) nanocrystals synthesized on an M13 viral template through the genetically programmed self-assembly of metal ion precursors. The filamentous viral template realizes the formation of a highly entangled, well-dispersed network of anisotropic BTO nanostructures with high crystallinity and piezoelectricity. Even without the use of additional structural stabilizers, our virus-enabled flexible nanogenerator exhibits a high electrical output up to ∼300 nA and ∼6 V, indicating the importance of nanoscale structures for device performances. This study shows the biotemplating approach as a facile method to design and fabricate nanoscale materials particularly suitable for flexible energy harvesting applications.