Freestanding Hierarchical-Porous BCZT Thin Films Enable Efficient Ultrasonic Energy Harvesting in Soft Tissue.

Authors

Zifan Li, Shengwei Gao, Wang Hong, Yuxin Chen, Yiyang Gu, Xu Wang, Chen Tang, Ying Hong, Xuemu Li, Xiaodong Yan, Yi Zheng, Yiming Liu, Junchen Liao, Biao Wang, Shiyuan Liu

Published in

Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany). Pages e77409. Aug 29, 2026. Epub Aug 29, 2026.

Abstract

Excellent electromechanical properties of piezoceramic thin films facilitate ultrasonic energy harvesting in bioelectronic systems. However, most piezoceramic thin films are fragile and cannot maintain mechanical integrity under deformation, hindering their application in soft tissue coupling. Here, we report a freestanding hierarchical-porous barium calcium zirconate titanate (BCZT) thin film that combines crack resistance with efficient ultrasonic energy harvesting. The hierarchical-porous structure, fabricated using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a porogen, disperses tensile-side stress concentration and suppresses crack initiation, while reducing the acoustic-impedance mismatch with soft tissue and suppressing interfacial ultrasound reflection. The film exhibits reduced permittivity and a high piezoelectric voltage coefficient of g₃₃ = 97 × 10^-3 V·m/N, resulting in a maximum output power that is approximately 1.5 times that of the dense BCZT thin film under identical ultrasound excitation, evaluated at the respective optimal loads. Owing to its excellent piezoelectric performance, the film also enables reliable detection of weak vibrations, such as radial artery pulse-wave signals. This work demonstrates a hierarchical-porous structure for simultaneously improving acoustic coupling, mechanical reliability, and electromechanical transduction in freestanding piezoceramic thin films, highlighting their potential for wearable sensing and implantable ultrasound-powered bioelectronics.

PMID:
42666111
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 29 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.