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Structural origin of fracture-induced surface charges in piezoelectric pharmaceutical crystals for engineering bulk properties

Author

Listed:
  • Kaustav Das

    (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata)

  • Ishita Ghosh

    (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata)

  • Soumalya Chakraborty

    (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research)

  • Amritha G. Nambiar

    (Indian Institute of Technology (BHU))

  • Sourav Maji

    (Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad)

  • Sumanta K. Karan

    (The Pennsylvania State University
    University of Connecticut)

  • Dinesh Kumar

    (Indian Institute of Technology (BHU))

  • Arvind K. Bansal

    (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research)

  • C. Malla Reddy

    (Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad)

Abstract

Altering surface chemistry of functional materials is an attractive route to enable large property enhancements without sacrificing overall structural-order, appealing to diverse fields of application sciences; however, the same remains unexplored for organic crystalline materials. Herein, piezoelectricity in pharmaceutical crystals is reported to show colossal surface charges driven by mechanical fracture — where a collection of dipoles arranged in polar head-to-tail fashion generates opposite surface charges on freshly fractured faces — causing them to actuate large distances over 75 µm in milliseconds. Kelvin probe force microscopy is leveraged to show many-fold surface potential enhancement in fractured surfaces relative to the pristine crystals. Further, complementarity of the surface potentials in a pair of fractured crystal shards and asymptotic decay behaviour with time are observed. Newly formed surfaces of the pharmaceutical crystals show long-lasting charges despite their relatively lower piezo-response confirmed by bulk piezometry. To establish the generality of surface phenomena, statistical analyses (≈50 samples) of post-fracture-attraction behaviour of crystals are performed. Finally, the application of fracture-driven surface charges in industrial processes is achieved by investigating flow-property and tablet-strength of bulk pharmaceutical materials. This multiscale approach unveils the symmetry-dependency of surface charges in fractured materials, and probes the same for utilisation in bulk-property engineering.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaustav Das & Ishita Ghosh & Soumalya Chakraborty & Amritha G. Nambiar & Sourav Maji & Sumanta K. Karan & Dinesh Kumar & Arvind K. Bansal & C. Malla Reddy, 2025. "Structural origin of fracture-induced surface charges in piezoelectric pharmaceutical crystals for engineering bulk properties," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58138-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58138-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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