Scientists Discover Diamonds Can Generate Electricity

Hong Kong scientists found that ultrathin diamond sheets can generate electricity when bent, revealing a hidden piezoelectric effect

Researchers have identified a piezoelectric effect in ultrathin diamond membranes. This effect, previously unseen in bulk diamond, appears in thin polycrystalline sheets. Grain boundaries within these membranes are responsible for generating electrical responses when deformed. The strongest piezoelectric response was observed in membranes approximately five micrometres thick. This discovery opens doors for new applications in energy harvesting a…

Diamonds Can Generate Electricity When Bent, Scientists Discover After 100-Year Assumption Is Challenged

Scientists found ultrathin polycrystalline diamond membranes can generate electricity when bent, revealing a piezoelectric effect that could aid tiny sensors and energy harvesters.

Scientists discover diamonds can generate electricity

Diamond was thought to be incapable of producing electricity through mechanical deformation, but ultrathin flexible diamond membranes have now shown a strong and repeatable piezoelectric effect. The unexpected discovery could open the door to diamond-powered sensors, tiny energy systems, and self-powered medical implants.

Diamond was classed as non-piezoelectric for more than a century—but HKU researchers have now bent ultrathin polycrystalline diamond membranes and generated stable, repeatable voltages, revealing an electrical response created by symmetry-breaking grain boundaries in the hardest natural material.

A five-micrometre polycrystalline diamond membrane produced the strongest response, but the result applies to asymmetric, laboratory-grown films rather than bulk single-crystal diamond or gemstones.