Energy harvesting goes organic, gets more flexible: Self-assembled peptides, when aligned, show great promise for electricity generation.

The race is on to create natural biocompatible piezoelectric materials for energy harvesting, electronic sensing, and stimulating nerves. A group of researchers has explored peptide-based nanotubes and reports using a combination of ultraviolet and ozone exposure to generate a wettability difference and an applied field to create horizontally aligned polarization of nanotubes on flexible substrates with interlocking electrodes. The work will enable the use of organic materials more widely.