Piezoelectricity and crystal structure of H-β-(2-Pyridyl)-Ala-OH amino acid microcrystals

Self-assembled peptide nanotubes (PNT) are unique nanoscale objects having a great potential for a multitude of applications. We report the congeneric studies on local piezoelectric properties of H-β-(2-Pyridyl)-Ala-OH. It crystallizes in needle shaped microcrystals of the size from the fraction of micrometer up to tens of micrometers. The structure of this amino acid was determined by means of X-ray single crystal diffraction. At room temperature the amino acid crystals exhibit strong piezoelectric properties which were studied using piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM). Moreover the optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations were carried out, the thermal stability was determined (TGA method).