Electromechanical Properties of an Ultrathin Layer of Directionally Aligned Helical Polypeptides
The electromechanical properties of a monomolecular film of poly-γ-benzyl-L-glutamate (PBLG) 15 nanometers thick grafted at the carboxyl-terminal end to a flat aluminum surface were measured. The field-induced change in film thickness, dominated by a large inverse-piezoelectric effect, demonstrates...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1998-01, Vol.279 (5347), p.57-60 |
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Hauptverfasser: | , , , , |
Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | The electromechanical properties of a monomolecular film of poly-γ-benzyl-L-glutamate (PBLG) 15 nanometers thick grafted at the carboxyl-terminal end to a flat aluminum surface were measured. The field-induced change in film thickness, dominated by a large inverse-piezoelectric effect, demonstrates that the "grafting-from" technique forces the chains into a parallel arrangement. The mechanical plate modulus of the film as determined by electrostriction agrees with the theoretical prediction for a single PBLG molecule along the chain axis. The experiments show that ultrathin polypeptide layers with large persistent polarization can be fabricated by the grafting approach. |
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ISSN: | 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
DOI: | 10.1126/science.279.5347.57 |