Piezoelectric Biomaterials

This chapter aims to describe principle of piezoelectricity in biological materials from the very beginning building blocks to highly organized tissues. We introduce the principle of traditional piezoelectric effect based on crystal structure and mathematical descriptions. We summarize research progress on the piezoelectricity in various biological materials including amino acids, peptides, proteins, viruses, and cellulose. We also cover origin of piezoelectricity in variety biological materials. Finally, observation of piezoelectricity in biological tissues such as bone, tendon, skin, hair and wood, and hypothesis of its origin is introduced.