Acoustic alignment of bacteria toward piezoelectric biopolymer devices

Abstract

en

Biodegradable functional materials are increasingly important for next-generation biosensors and bioelectronic devices. Among them, the piezoelectric biopolymer polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), produced by the bacterium Cupriavidus necator H16, has gained particular attention. PHB exhibits piezoelectric properties when crystallized in a defined orientation. However, achieving such orientation in its native state is challenging due to the spherical morphology of intracellular PHB granules. This work focuses on developing more effective approaches for orienting this polymer. In this work, we present oriented structures of C. necator cultures obtained using surface acoustic waves (SAWs) and their subsequent analysis. After bacterial alignment, atomic force microscopy (AFM) images with 512 × 512 px resolution were acquired. Bacterial edges were detected, and those meeting userdefined conditions were fitted with a line. From these fits, the standard deviation from the mean orientation and the degree of orientation parameter (R) were calculated. The entire process was performed using in-house developed software designed specifically for this application.

2025-11-12

Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the CAS, Brno, Czech Republic

Brno

CECE Junior 2025, Program and Abstract Book

50–50

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