Animal waste, if not disposed of carefully, is a threat
to the
environment, as it may cause fouling and microorganism growth and
can be a home for many diseases. Hence, proper waste management is
required. One such abundantly found biowaste product is chicken bones,
which are thrown into nature after the meat is consumed. However,
this biowaste (chicken bone extract, CBE) can be utilized to make
bioceramics in an efficient way without much labor and cost. Bioceramics
made from natural sources such as chicken bones have chemical, physical,
and biological similarities to the inorganic content of human bones
and hence do not create any toxicity or harmful effects when used
inside the human body. Bone, being a piezoelectric material, makes
the healing of fractures faster (osteoconduction and osteoinduction)
due to the electric field it generates. Hence, a piezoelectric device
fabricated from natural CBE could be utilized for generating piezoelectricity
to heal bones. The piezoelectric behavior of a CBE bioceramic material
is studied for the first time by developing a device made via 3D printing.
Piezoelectric studies were performed at various loads and tapping
frequencies, and a maximum piezoelectric coefficient (d33) of ∼68.7 pC/N and electromechanical coupling
of 0.17 were obtained, which are suitable for piezoelectric energy-harvesting
applications. Normally, the lifetime of piezoelectric devices is low,
and their disposal and recycling may also create health hazards. However,
the current device made out of degradable natural CBE poses no environmental
threat after disposal. This novel process opens up new opportunities
and directions to rethink alternatives for piezoelectric materials
that are used for sustainable energy harvesting