What is it that eggs can't do? They are a must in your breakfast, they are quick to make and hassle-free. The egg whites especially have garnered an immense reputation in the world of nutrition for its high protein content; but that's not all. According to a latest study a protein - found in egg whites, saliva and milk of mammals - can be used to generate electricity and power novel medical devices in the future. The same protein can even be found in tears of mammals.
Researchers from the University of Limerick (UL) in Ireland discovered that crystals of lysozyme, a model protein can generate electricity when pressed. This ability to generate electricity by applying pressure, is known as direct piezoelectricity, and happens to be a property of materials such as quartz which are used widely to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa. These materials are used in a various electrical appliances ranging from resonators and vibrators in mobile phones to deep ocean sonars to ultrasound imaging. Bone, tendon and wood are long known to possess piezoelectricity.
"While piezoelectricity is used all around us, the capacity to generate electricity from this particular protein had not been explored," said Aimee Stapleton from UL.
"The extent of the piezoelectricity in lysozyme crystals is significant. It is of the same order of magnitude found in quartz," said Stapleton, lead author of the study.
"However, because it is a biological material, it is non-toxic so could have many innovative applications such as electroactive, anti-microbial coatings for medical implants," she said in the study published in the journal Applied Physics Letters.
Crystals of lysozyme are easy to make from natural sources, researchers noted, in the study published in the journal Applied Physics Letters.
Researchers believe that the discover could prove to be a path-breaking intervention and may have wide reaching implications leading to further research in the area of energy harvesting and flexible electronics for biomedical devices.
The team is affirmative that the future applications of the discovery may include controlling the release of drugs in the body by using lysozyme as a physiologically mediated pump that sifts energy from its surroundings. The biocompatible, lysozyme may present a non-toxic alternative to conventional piezoelectric energy harvesters most of which are often laden with toxic elements such as lead.
(Inputs PTI)