Getting the Lead Out: Biomolecular Crystals as Low-Cost, High-Performance Piezoelectric Components

There are billions of piezoelectric sensors globally in our vehicles, consumer electronics, medical devices, advanced scientific equipment, fuel gauges, and structural health monitoring units. The vast majority of these sensors contain the perovskite lead zirconium titanate (PZT). It is estimated that there is 100 g of PZT distributed across a variety of integrated sensors in every one of the 1.4 billion cars on our roads. PZT requires toxic lead oxide (PbO) during its synthesis and leaches lead into water supplies at end-of-life disposal. Lead-free alternatives are a large field of research, yet the most-touted candidates, which are also ceramic materials containing elements such as niobium, bismuth, and barium, are even more damaging to the environment (Figure 1)