Biomolecular piezoelectric materials offer an inexpensive, non-toxic, and renewable alternative to current commercial piezoelectrics, which rely on toxic heavy elements. Currently, there is a lack of testing for real-world applications of these eco-friendly crystals. Here, we validate an amino acid-based sensor capable of real-time detection of pipe leakage, a global challenge for sustainable water access. The polycrystalline device demonstrates data-driven decision making in identifying degraded pipelines, exploiting the relationship between leak-induced vibration and piezoelectric voltage. The device has piezoelectric strain and voltage constants of 0.9 pC/N and 60 mV m/N. Peak voltage of ∼2 V is recorded in the low-dielectric film at high flow rates and large leak size. The glycine crystal sensors demonstrate much higher sensitivity than PVDF polymer patches. The sensors can operate over a range of test leak sizes, with the energy content of the worst leak state being >10 times that of a healthy pipe.

生物分子压电材料为依赖有毒重元素的当前商业压电提供了一种廉价，无毒且可再生的替代品。当前，对于这些环保晶体的实际应用尚缺乏测试。在这里，我们验证了一种基于氨基酸的传感器，该传感器能够实时检测管道泄漏，这是可持续取水的全球挑战。该多晶器件利用泄漏引起的振动与压电电压之间的关系，展示了数据驱动的决策来识别退化的管道。该器件的压电应变和电压常数分别为0.9 pC / N和60 mV m / N。低介电常数的薄膜在高流量和大泄漏情况下记录了约2 V的峰值电压。甘氨酸晶体传感器显示出比PVDF聚合物贴片高得多的灵敏度。传感器可以在各种测试泄漏尺寸范围内运行，最坏泄漏状态的能量含量是正常管道的10倍以上。