Self-Assemblies of Piezoelectric Metabolites and Their Energy Harvesting Applications

Piezoelectric metabolite materials have received increasing attention in recent years owing to their inherent biological nature and efficient energy conversion capability, and piezoelectric metabolite self-assemblies are considered as promising smart materials for energy, sensor, robotics, healthcare, and many other areas. Rational material design is important to enhance their piezoelectric and biological activity. Herein, recent advancements to piezoelectric biomaterials, such as amino acids and peptide-based micro/nanostructures, are provided. Synthetic methods, morphological features, and piezoelectric performance of piezoelectric biomaterials are presented. The effect of growth direction, phase and structure of piezoelectric biomaterials on their piezoelectric activity are discussed. The applications of piezoelectric biomaterials in the field of nanogenerators are provided at the end.