Piezoelectricity in polymers and biological materials

The piezoelectric effect in polymers is usually explained in terms of the uniaxial orientation of the polymer crystallites and the classical piezoelectric property of these crystallites. Polarization caused by stress gradient seems to be necessary to the understanding of the geometrical relationship between stress and polarization. Studies of the temperature variation of the complex piezoelectric modulus have revealed a new type of relaxation phenomenon, which is closely related to elastic and dielectric relaxation. The possibility of a polymer piezoelectric transducer has been demonstrated by a microphone using an elongated film of poly-γ-methyl-L-glutamate. The physiological significance of piezoelectricity in biological polymers, such as its correlation with the growth mechanism of bone and with the sense of a mechanical stimulus, is worth further investigation.