Central idea: Scientists have recently discovered evidence of the piezoelectric effect in liquids for the first time. This effect has only been observed in solids for the past 143 years. This new finding challenges the theory that describes this effect and opens doors to previously unanticipated applications in electronic and mechanical systems.

What is Piezoelectric Effect?

• The piezoelectric effect occurs when a body develops an electric current when it is squeezed.
• It has been observed in quartz crystals (SiO2), which are used in wristwatches, clocks, and various instruments that convert mechanical stress to a current.

Recent observation

• The piezoelectric effect was found in pure 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)imide and 1-hexyl-3-methyl imidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide.
• Both of these liquids are ionic liquids, which means that they are made of ions instead of molecules, and were found at room temperature.

Why is the effect in liquids surprising?

• Liquids do not have an organized structure like solids, which is why the piezoelectric effect has only been expected in solids until now.
• However, the scientists found the effect in pure ionic liquids at room temperature, challenging the current understanding of the effect.
• The magnitude of the piezoelectric effect in the first liquid was 16 millivolt per newton (mV/N) and in the second, 17 mV/N, in both cases within a margin of 1 mV/N.

What is the strength of the effect?

• In the experiment, the scientists found that the strength of the piezoelectric effect in the two ionic liquids they tested was lower than that of quartz by a factor of 10.
• However, this is still a significant discovery since it opens the door to new applications.

Possible applications

• The discovery of the piezoelectric effect in liquids opens the door to previously inaccessible applications that have fewer environmental issues than many currently used piezoelectric materials.
• Additionally, these liquids displayed the inverse piezoelectric effect, which could be used to control how the liquids bend light passing through them by passing different currents through them, creating lenses with dynamic focusing abilities.

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