Ultrasound-mediated piezoelectricity enhancement in bioresorbable polymers.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42473607.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.06.039 and PMC identifier 13380787.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Piezoelectric materials can power self-sustained medical devices, but biodegradable systems with high performance remain elusive. We introduce a high-frequency ultrasound treatment strategy that enhances the piezoelectricity of poly-L-lactide (PLLA) via standing-wave-induced crystallization and ferroelectric electret formation. Ultrasound at 1.2 MHz promotes β-form crystal alignment, increasing the piezoelectric coefficient (<i>d</i> <sub><i>33</i></sub> ) to 10.8 pC/N, approaching that of non-degradable PVDF. The ultrasound-treated PLLA (US-PLLA) retains full biodegradability and biocompatibility, safely degrading <i>in vivo</i> without organ toxicity. Functionally, US-PLLA enables real-time biosignal monitoring and promotes cardiac recovery after myocardial infarction in rats. This work establishes ultrasound-mediated crystallization as a general route to high-performance biodegradable piezoelectric polymers for transient biomedical systems.