title: Piezoelectric Templates - New Views on Biomineralization and Biomimetics.
abstract: Biomineralization in general is based on electrostatic interactions and molecular recognition of organic and inorganic phases. These principles of biomineralization have also been utilized and transferred to bio-inspired synthesis of functional materials during the past decades. Proteins involved in both, biomineralization and bio-inspired processes, are often piezoelectric due to their dipolar character hinting to the impact of a template's piezoelectricity on mineralization processes. However, the piezoelectric contribution on the mineralization process and especially the interaction of organic and inorganic phases is hardly considered so far. We herein report the successful use of the intrinsic piezoelectric properties of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) to synthesize piezoelectric ZnO. Such films show a two-fold increase of the piezoelectric coefficient up to 7.2 pm V(-1) compared to films synthesized on non-piezoelectric templates. By utilizing the intrinsic piezoelectricity of a biotemplate, we thus established a novel synthesis pathway towards functional materials, which sheds light on the whole field of biomimetics. The obtained results are of even broader and general interest since they are providing a new, more comprehensive insight into the mechanisms involved into biomineralization in living nature.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Science, University Stuttgart, Heisenbergstr. 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stitz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials and Biological Systems, University Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eiben
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Science, University Stuttgart, Heisenbergstr. 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Petia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Atanasova
authors.affiliation: Oxide Nanoelectronics Group, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, ICN2 Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Neus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Domingo
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Heisenbergstr. 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leineweber
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Science, University Stuttgart, Heisenbergstr. 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Zaklina
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Burghard
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Science, University Stuttgart, Heisenbergstr. 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bill
mesh_terms: D032701:Biomimetics / Q000379:methods*; D055672:Static Electricity; D014027:Tobacco Mosaic Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015034:Zinc Oxide