New Research Adds to Possibilities for Moly Disulfide

IEEE Spectrum reported that research from Columbia University and the Georgia Institute of Technology shows that molybdenum disulfide “exhibits piezoelectricity and the piezotronic effect.”

Those words might sound exotic, but the news outlet clearly explains what they mean:

The piezoelectric effect, in which compressing or stretching a material produces a voltage or where a voltage can cause a material to expand or contract, has been demonstrated in a number of nanomaterials, including nanowires. (Piezotronics is the use of the piezoelectric effect as the gate voltage in transistor or similar device.)

It also details what the discovery means for moly disulfide:

The research, which was published in the journal Nature, adds another dimension to the possible applications of 2-D materials like MoS2—notably the construction of new kinds of mechanically controlled electronic devices.

‘This material–just a single layer of atoms–could be made as a wearable device, perhaps integrated into clothing, to convert energy from your body movement to electricity and power wearable sensors or medical devices, or perhaps supply enough energy to charge your cell phone in your pocket,’ said James Hone, professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia and co-leader of the research, in a press release.

Click here to read the full IEEE Spectrum report.