Silk piezoelectric thin films: Materials to devices

In this paper, we present the preparation and characterization of silk piezoelectric thin films for biomedical applications. The silk thin films were prepared in formic acid medium. Drying condition to achieve a uniform, stress free thin film was optimized. Atomic Force Microscopy was employed to analyze the surface quality of the as prepared thin film. The RMS roughness of the silk thin film was found to be 2.43 nm. The piezo-response of the silk films was measured using Piezo Force Microscopy and the average d33 value of the silk piezoelectric thin film was found to be 56.7 pm/V. A novel lithography based technique was developed to pattern the silk films. We believe this breakthrough will be a stepping stone for realizing silk based wearable biomedical devices