Scientists have created organic films to charge pacemakers

UrFU scientists, together with colleagues from a Portuguese university, have obtained biocompatible films that will help solve the problem of replacing exhausted batteries in pacemakers.

The new material was created from diphenylalanine, a form of phenylalanine, one of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins and plays an important role in biological processes. This substance is part of the human body, which means that materials made from it are highly compatible with living tissues.

The obtained films have high piezoelectric properties: under mechanical or thermal influence they produce electricity, explained Denis Alikin, head of the laboratory of functional nanomaterials and nanodevices.

The development has great potential for creating invasive devices in medicine. When the heart moves or beats, the films will generate current, which is then stored in pacemaker batteries.

"Energy storage devices based on such materials could solve the problem of replacing depleted batteries and also reduce the number of surgical interventions," the scientist believes.

In addition, unlike inorganic analogs, the new films have lower rejection.

They were synthesized thanks to a new method - crystallization from the amorphous phase under the influence of water vapor.