Cardiomyocytes driven piezoelectric nanofiber generator with anisotropic enhancement

Methods of capturing body's mechanical energy from the heart, lung, and diaphragm can meet the requirements for in vivo applications. Previous work has demonstrated mechanodynamic responses of contractile muscle cells exposed to microstructural and electrical stimulus, but less is investigated on their mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion and biointerfacing with smart transducing materials. Here we present a novel contractile cardiomyocytes driven piezoelectric nanofiber (CCDPN) biogenerator that is achieved by using a uniaxially aligned piezoelectric polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) nanofiber mat. The piezoelectric PVDF nanofibers bend periodically, and produce an average voltage of 200 mV and current of 45 nA at the cell concentration of 1.0 million/ml, offering a biocompatible and scalable platform for biological energy conversion.