Stretched exponential relaxation of piezovoltages in wet bovine bone.

It is important to determine the amplitude and variation characteristics of piezovoltage in wet bone, which can, in turn, be taken as a basis for studying whether electrical signals induced by external forces can affect the growth of bone cells. This work measured the characteristics of piezoelectric effects under dynamic and static loading. The results show that the variations of piezovoltage in wet bone in both loading and load holding periods follow a stretched exponential relaxation law, and the relaxation time constants of the piezovoltages are much larger than those of dry bone. This finding means that the active time of piezovoltage in wet bone is much longer than that of dry bone. Regardless of the loading and load holding processes, continuously increasing deformation in wet bone caused piezoelectric charges to be continuously induced and increased the dielectric constant of wet bone along with the deformation process. In general, compared with piezovoltage in dry bone, that in wet bone had lower amplitude and could exist for a longer duration. It can be inferred, therefore, that piezoelectricity might create coupling with the streaming potential in bone by changing the thickness of the double electrode layer.