Orthotropic piezoelectricity in 2D nanocellulose

The control of electromechanical responses within bonding regions is essential to face frontier challenges in nanotechnologies, such as molecular electronics and biotechnology. Here, we present Iβ-nanocellulose as a potentially new orthotropic 2D piezoelectric crystal. The predicted in-layer piezoelectricity is originated on a sui-generis hydrogen bonds pattern. Upon this fact and by using a combination of ab-initio and ad-hoc models, we introduce a description of electrical profiles along chemical bonds. Such developments lead to obtain a rationale for modelling the extended piezoelectric effect originated within bond scales. The order of magnitude estimated for the 2D Iβ-nanocellulose piezoelectric response, ∼pm V, ranks this material at the level of currently used piezoelectric energy generators and new artificial 2D designs. Such finding would be crucial for developing alternative materials to drive emerging nanotechnologies.C.M.S.-T. acknowledges the financial support from the Spanish Severo Ochoa Excellence program (Grant SEV-2013-0295), the MINECO project PHENTOM (FIS2015-70682-P) and the EU project NANO-RF (Grant Agreement 318352).Peer Reviewe