ScienceDirect.com
Volume 57, March 2026, Pages 358-399
Luís Martins ab1
Ana Isabel Barbosa ab1
Vítor Manuel Correlo ab
Mrinal Bhattacharya c
Previously reserved only for crystals and ceramics like quartz and lead zirconate titanate (PZT), the area of piezoelectricity was recently revolutionized through findings of piezoelectricity in polymers (e.g., PVDF and copolymers) and in natural tissue materials like bone, tendon, and collagen fibrils. While soft and biocompatible, unlike hard ceramics, polymers are mechanically soft, light in weight, and chemically tailorable. Most importantly, soft and biocompatible, this new area of materials expands the design space of piezoelectric materials, moving toward technologies ranging from wearable electronics and self-powered health monitors, through implantable biomedical devices, back again toward new types of energy-harvesting fabrics and clothing. Of further significance, nanoscale processing and molecular tailoring now enable scientists and engineers, at the molecular level, to control chain alignment, crystal structure, and dipole orientation, and thus, at the macro level, substantially increase the piezoelectric response of soft materials.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452199X25005316
