Researchers from Stanford managed to engineer Piezoelectricity into graphene. Piezoelectricity is the property of some materials to produce electric charge when bent, squeezed or twisted. It is reversible - so you can change the materia's shape using an electric field.
A piezoelectric graphene could provide an unparalleled degree of electrical, optical or mechanical control for applications ranging from touchscreens to nanoscale transistors, said the researchers.
The method involves doping graphene with atoms. Using modelling applications they tested different scenarios and found that doping just one side of the graphene, or doping both sides with different atoms, is key to the process as it breaks graphene's perfect physical symmetry. The piezoelectric effect is comparable to traditional three-dimensional materials.
