Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-6997801, Israel.
Blavatnik Center for Drug Discovery, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-6997801, Israel.
Chem Soc Rev. 2023 Aug 29;52(17):6191-6220. doi: 10.1039/d3cs00202k.
The development of next-generation bioelectronics, as well as the powering of consumer and medical devices, require power sources that are soft, flexible, extensible, and even biocompatible. Traditional energy storage devices (typically, batteries and supercapacitors) are rigid, unrecyclable, offer short-lifetime, contain hazardous chemicals and possess poor biocompatibility, hindering their utilization in wearable electronics. Therefore, there is a genuine unmet need for a new generation of innovative energy-harvesting materials that are soft, flexible, bio-compatible, and bio-degradable. Piezoelectric gels or PiezoGels are a smart crystalline form of gels with polar ordered structures that belongs to the broader family of piezoelectric material, which generate electricity in response to mechanical stress or deformation. Given that PiezoGels are structurally similar to hydrogels, they offer several advantages including intrinsic chirality, crystallinity, degree of ordered structures, mechanical flexibility, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, emphasizing their potential applications ranging from power generation to bio-medical applications. Herein, we describe recent examples of new functional PiezoGel materials employed for energy harvesting, sensing, and wound dressing applications. First, this review focuses on the principles of piezoelectric generators (PEGs) and the advantages of using hydrogels as PiezoGels in energy and biomedical applications. Next, we provide a detailed discussion on the preparation, functionalization, and fabrication of PiezoGel-PEGs (P-PEGs) for the applications of energy harvesting, sensing and wound healing/dressing. Finally, this review concludes with a discussion of the current challenges and future directions of P-PEGs.
下一代生物电子学的发展以及消费和医疗设备的供电都需要柔软、灵活、可延展甚至生物兼容的电源。传统的储能设备（通常是电池和超级电容器）刚性、不可回收、寿命短、含有危险化学品且生物兼容性差，限制了它们在可穿戴电子产品中的应用。因此，确实需要新一代创新的能量收集材料，这些材料应该柔软、灵活、生物兼容和可生物降解。压电凝胶或 PiezoGels 是一种具有极性有序结构的智能结晶凝胶，属于更广泛的压电材料家族，它可以响应机械应力或变形产生电能。鉴于 PiezoGels 在结构上与水凝胶相似，它们具有几个优点，包括固有手性、结晶度、有序结构程度、机械灵活性、生物相容性和生物降解性，强调了它们从发电到生物医学应用的潜在应用。在本文中，我们描述了用于能量收集、传感和伤口敷料应用的新型功能性 PiezoGel 材料的最新示例。首先，本综述重点介绍压电发电机 (PEG) 的原理以及将水凝胶用作 PiezoGels 在能源和生物医学应用中的优势。接下来，我们详细讨论了 PiezoGel-PEGs（P-PEGs）的制备、功能化和制造，用于能量收集、传感和伤口愈合/敷料应用。最后，本文讨论了 P-PEGs 的当前挑战和未来方向。
