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Published on: July 16, 2013
Piezoelectric and mechanical properties in bovine cornea
A C Jayasuriya1, J I Scheinbeim, V Lubkin
1College of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Bio-Chemical Engineering, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8058, USA.acjayasu@umich.edu
Abstract:
The piezoelectric coefficient (d(31)) and Young's modulus (E) were investigated as a function of degree of hydration for bovine cornea. The piezoelectric and mechanical responses observed were anisotropic, and d(31) decreased, whereas E increased with decreasing the degree of hydration. The anisotropic mechanical and electromechanical properties observed seem to be caused by oriented crystalline collagen fibrils. In addition, the loss of water molecules appears to decrease crystallinity (of the collagen) in the cornea. With dehydration of the cornea, a reduction in crystallinity and changes in hydrogen bonding were observed by wide-angle X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared measurements. The decrease of piezoelectricity in cornea during dehydration is most likely caused by the increase in modulus and the loss of order to a nonpiezoelectric phase in the collagen.
