Piezoelectricity is used everywhere: Watches, cars, alarms, headphones, pickups for instruments, electric lighters and gas burners. One of the most common examples is probably the quartz watch, where the piezoelectric material quartz is a prerequisite for the watch's function.
Piezoelectric materials have the particular property that their shape changes when applying an electrical voltage to the material. It also works the other way around: Exposing them to a mechanical impact will create an electrical voltage.
Piezoelectricity is often used in sensors, actuators, and resonators. In small devices, they are known as MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems). Here, materials other than quartz must be used. These materials, however, often contain lead in the form of lead zirconate titanate (PZT).
This may prove to be a barrier to the spread of technology in, for example, the biomedical field, as lead is harmful to the body. However, researchers assess an excellent potential for utilizing the piezoelectric effect in a wider range of diagnostics, prognosis and therapy technologies if lead could be removed.
In a new, scientific article in the journal Science, Professor Nini Pryds and Professor Vincenzo Esposito from DTU Energy show that it is possible to create piezoelectric effects in materials where this is not ordinarily possible. It paves the way for designing piezoelectric materials that are lead-free and far more environmentally friendly. The research was conducted with colleagues from EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Tel Aviv University and the University of Antwerp.
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