Abstract
Many biological tissues are piezoelectric and pyroelectric with spontaneous polarization. Ferroelectricity, however, has not been reported in soft biological tissues yet. Using piezoresponse force microscopy, we discover that the porcine aortic walls are not only piezoelectric, but also ferroelectric, with the piezoelectric coefficient in the order of and coercive voltage approximately 10 V. Through detailed switching spectroscopy mapping and relaxation studies, we also find that the polarization of the aortic walls is internally biased outward, and the inward polarization switched by a negative voltage is unstable, reversing spontaneously to the more stable outward orientation shortly after the switching voltage is removed. The discovery of ferroelectricity in soft biological tissues adds an important dimension to their biophysical properties, and could have physiological implications as well.
- Received 11 December 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.078103
© 2012 American Physical Society
Viewpoint
Are Mammals Ferroelectric?
Published 13 February 2012
The discovery of ferroelecticity in mammalian tissue makes researchers wonder what its purpose is and what it may be useful for.
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