The absence of piezoelectricity in silicon can lead to direct electromechanical applications of the mainstream semiconductor material. The integrated electrical control of silicon mechanics can open new perspectives for on-chip actuators. In a new report, Manuel Brinker and a research team in physics, materials, microscopy and hybrid nanostructures in Germany, combined wafer-scale nanoporosity in single-crystalline silicon to synthesize a composite demonstrating macroscopic electrostrain in aqueous electrolytes. The voltage-strain coupling was three-orders of magnitude larger