CeNS Bengaluru Turns Peptides Into Piezoelectric Biomaterials

The Ministry of Science and Technology announced on 3 September 2026 that Indian researchers have found a simple molecular way to make highly efficient piezoelectric biomaterials out of peptides. Peptides are the natural building blocks of proteins. The work could lead to implantable medical devices that draw their own power from the heartbeat, from breathing or from walking.

What piezoelectricity is

A piezoelectric material turns mechanical force into electrical energy. Pressing, bending or stretching such a material produces a voltage. The property is used in pressure sensors, medical ultrasound machines, actuators and energy-harvesting systems. Almost all piezoelectric materials sold today are ceramics. Ceramics work well, but they are brittle, unfriendly to the environment and usually unfit for use inside the human body. Scientists have therefore been looking for softer and biocompatible substitutes.

Who did the work

The research was done at the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bengaluru, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology. It was carried out with the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru. Dr Goutam Ghosh of CeNS led it with his doctoral scholar Aparna Ramesh.

The trick that worked

The team found that the peptide itself does not have to be altered. What matters is how the peptide molecules arrange themselves. Using atomic force microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy, they saw that the molecules form nanofibers in water and show no piezoelectric response at all. Adding just one per cent of a suitable co-solvent rearranged them into a highly ordered supramolecular structure. A strong piezoelectric response switched on at once, without any change in the chemical composition of the peptide. The reason is that controlled chiral self-assembly lines up the molecular dipoles into a non-centrosymmetric structure, which is the basic structural condition for piezoelectricity.

Facts at a glance

The engineered peptide nanomaterials reached a piezoelectric coefficient of nearly 30 picometres per volt, which is notable for a peptide-based material. The discovery was published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. It offers a blueprint for designing sustainable functional biomaterials without chemically modifying the molecules. Such materials could power wearable electronics, implantable sensors, electronic skin and biosensors by harvesting energy from the body's own movements. They also give an environment-friendly substitute for conventional piezoelectric materials and support sustainable soft electronics. The release notes that the work shows India's growing strength in supramolecular chemistry.