{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,8]],"date-time":"2026-02-08T10:16:16Z","timestamp":1770545776295,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,12]],"date-time":"2021-01-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1610409600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004504","name":"Lietuvos Mokslo Taryba","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["S-MIP-19-43"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["S-MIP-19-43"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004504","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This research paper is concentrated on the design of biologically compatible lead-free piezoelectric composites which may eventually replace traditional lead zirconium titanate (PZT) in micromechanical fluidics, the predominantly used ferroelectric material today. Thus, a lead-free barium\u2013calcium zirconate titanate (BCZT) composite was synthesized, its crystalline structure and size, surface morphology, chemical, and piezoelectric properties were analyzed, together with the investigations done in variation of composite thin film thickness and its effect on the element properties. Four elements with different thicknesses of BCZT layers were fabricated and investigated in order to design a functional acoustophoresis micromechanical fluidic element, based on bulk acoustic generation for particle control technologies. Main methods used in this research were as follows: FTIR and XRD for evaluation of chemical and phase composition; SEM\u2014for surface morphology; wettability measurements were used for surface free energy evaluation; a laser triangular sensing system\u2014for evaluation of piezoelectric properties. XRD results allowed calculating the average crystallite size, which was 65.68 \u00c53 confirming the formation of BCZT nanoparticles. SEM micrographs results showed that BCZT thin films have some porosities on the surface with grain size ranging from 0.2 to 7.2 \u00b5m. Measurements of wettability showed that thin film surfaces are partially wetting and hydrophilic, with high degree of wettability and strong solid\/liquid interactions for liquids. The critical surface tension was calculated in the range from 20.05 to 27.20 mN\/m. Finally, investigations of piezoelectric properties showed significant results of lead-free piezoelectric composite, i.e., under 5 N force impulse thin films generated from 76 mV up to 782 mV voltages. Moreover, an experimental analysis showed that a designed lead-free BCZT element creates bulk acoustic waves and allows manipulating bio particles in this fluidic system.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s21020483","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,12]],"date-time":"2021-01-12T20:11:31Z","timestamp":1610482291000},"page":"483","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Biologically Compatible Lead-Free Piezoelectric Composite for Acoustophoresis Based Particle Manipulation Techniques"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Tomas","family":"Janusas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentu str. 56, LT\u201351424 Kaunas, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0707-2539","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sigita","family":"Urbaite","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentu str. 56, LT\u201351424 Kaunas, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1226-062X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arvydas","family":"Palevicius","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentu str. 56, LT\u201351424 Kaunas, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sohrab","family":"Nasiri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentu str. 56, LT\u201351424 Kaunas, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1055-2568","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giedrius","family":"Janusas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentu str. 56, LT\u201351424 Kaunas, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113066","DOI":"10.1039\/C6RA20080J","article-title":"Active bioparticle manipulation in microfluidic systems","volume":"6","author":"Ali","year":"2016","journal-title":"RSC Adv."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"938","DOI":"10.1039\/B409139F","article-title":"Separation of lipids from blood utilizing ultrasonic standing waves in microfluidic channels","volume":"129","author":"Petersson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Analyst"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7954","DOI":"10.1021\/ac301723s","article-title":"Microfluidic, label\u2013free enrichment of prostate cancer cells in blood based on acoustophoresis","volume":"84","author":"Augustsson","year":"2012","journal-title":"Anal Chem."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, X.J., and Zhou, Y. (2013). Microfluidic devices for cell manipulation. Microfluidic Devices for Biomedical Applications, Woodhead Publishing.","DOI":"10.1533\/9780857097040"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"691","DOI":"10.1016\/j.proeng.2015.08.754","article-title":"Microfluidic Device for Acoustophoresis and Dielectrophoresis Assisted Particle and Cell Transfer between Different Fluidic Media","volume":"120","author":"Abdallah","year":"2015","journal-title":"Procedia Eng."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107984","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cep.2020.107984","article-title":"An updated review on particle separation in passive microfluidic devices","volume":"153","author":"Bayareh","year":"2020","journal-title":"Chem. Eng. Process. Process Intensif."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1223","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2018.11.002","article-title":"A fully integrated passive microfluidic Lab\u2013on\u2013a\u2013Chip for real\u2013time electrochemical detection of ammonium: Sewage applications","volume":"653","author":"Baraket","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17632","DOI":"10.1039\/C6NR05784E","article-title":"A flexible energy harvester based on a lead\u2013free and piezoelectric BCTZ nanoparticle\u2013polymer composite","volume":"8","author":"Baek","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nanoscale"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rabiei, M., Palevicius, A., Monshi, A., Nasiri, S., Vilkauskas, A., and Janu\u0161as, G. (2020). Comparing methods for calculating nano crystal size of natural hydroxyapatite using X\u2013Ray diffraction. Nanomaterials, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/nano10091627"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10315","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ceramint.2018.03.039","article-title":"Influence of Mn doping on electrical conductivity of lead free BaZrTiO3 perovskite ceramic","volume":"44","author":"Sangwan","year":"2018","journal-title":"Ceram. Int."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"Pal, K., Kraatz, H., Khasnobish, A., Bag, S., Banerjee, I., and Kuruganti, U. (2019). Acoustophoresis\u2013based biomedical device applications. Woodhead Publishing Series in Electronic and Optical Materials: Bioelectronics and Medical Devices, Woodhead Publishing."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3390\/s18114049","article-title":"Design of controllable novel piezoelectric components for microfluidic applications","volume":"18","author":"Cekas","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Janusas, G., Ponelyte, S., Brunius, A., Guobiene, A., Vilkauskas, A., and Palevicius, A. (2016). Influence of PZT Coating Thickness and Electrical Pole Alignment on Microresonator Properties. Sensors, 16.","DOI":"10.3390\/s16111893"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1153","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1551-2916.2009.03061.x","article-title":"Perspective on the Development of Lead\u2013Free Piezoceramics","volume":"92","author":"Rodel","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Am. Ceram. Soc."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1023\/B:JECR.0000033998.72845.51","article-title":"Thin Film Piezoelectrics for MEMS","volume":"12","author":"Muralt","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Electroceram."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Uchino, K. (2017). Bi\u2013Based Lead\u2013Free Piezoelectric Ceramics. Advanced Piezoelectric Materials, Woodhead Publishing. [2nd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"84","DOI":"10.1038\/nature03028","article-title":"Lead\u2013Free Piezo Ceramics","volume":"432","author":"Yasuyoshi","year":"2004","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Poon, K.K., Wurm, M.C., Evans, D.M., Einarsrud, M.A., Lutz, R., and Glaum, J. (2019). Biocompatibility of (Ba,Ca)(Zr,Ti)O3 piezoelectric ceramics for bone replacement materials. J. Biomed. Mater. Res., 1295\u20131303.","DOI":"10.1002\/jbm.b.34477"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2089","DOI":"10.1002\/jbm.a.34879","article-title":"Biocompatible evaluation of barium titanate foamed ceramic structures for orthopedic applications","volume":"102","author":"Ball","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Biomed. Mater. Res."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31699","DOI":"10.3390\/s151229876","article-title":"Periodical Microstructures Based on Novel Piezoelectric Material for Biomedical Applications","volume":"15","author":"Janusas","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"1","article-title":"Contact Angle, Wettability and Adhesion: Advances in Chemistry Series","volume":"43","author":"Zisman","year":"1964","journal-title":"Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Borza, D. (2011). Vibration Measurement by Speckle Interferometry between High Spatial and High Temporal Resolution, InTech."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5899","DOI":"10.1007\/s10854-016-4508-3","article-title":"Energy Conversion Capacity of Barium Zirconate Titanate","volume":"27","author":"Nakhaei","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"158","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpcs.2018.01.051","article-title":"Improved dielectric and ferroelectric properties of Mn doped bariumzirconium titanate (BZT) ceramics for energy storage applications","volume":"117","author":"Sangwan","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Phy. Chem. Solids"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9160","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules19079160","article-title":"Adsorption Characteristics of Sol Gel\u2013Derived Zirconia for Cesium Ions from Aqueous Solutions","volume":"19","author":"Yakout","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Mol."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3774","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1551-2916.2008.02695.x","article-title":"Room-Temperature Synthesis of BaTiO3 Nanopartic\u2013les in Large Batches","volume":"91","author":"Wei","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Am. Ceram. Soc."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"228","DOI":"10.1590\/S0366-69132010000300004","article-title":"Surface characterization of BaTiO3 nanoparticles prepared by the polymeric precursor method","volume":"56","author":"Brito","year":"2010","journal-title":"Cer\u00e2mica"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1777","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1151-2916.1999.tb01999.x","article-title":"Characterization of barium titanate powders: Barium carbonate identification","volume":"82","author":"Lopez","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Am. Ceram. Soc."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"976","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jnoncrysol.2004.12.008","article-title":"Barium titanate sols prepared by a diol\u2013based sol\u2013gel route","volume":"351","author":"Tangwiwat","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Non-Cryst. Solids"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4375","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jeurceramsoc.2007.02.168","article-title":"Dielectric properties of Pb(Mg1\/3Nb2\/3)O3 and (Pb1\u2212xLax)(Mg(1+x)\/3Nb(2\u2212x)\/3)O3 ceramics prepared by columbite route","volume":"27","author":"Ianculescu","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Eur. Ceram. Soc."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4762","DOI":"10.1039\/C5TC00530B","article-title":"Piezoelectric properties of individual nanocrystallites of Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3 obtained by oxalate precursor route","volume":"3","author":"Bharathi","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Mater. Chem. C"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vibspec.2013.02.001","article-title":"Detailed FT\u2013IR spectroscopy characterization and thermal analysis of synthesis of barium titanate nanoscale particles through a newly developed process","volume":"66","author":"Ashiri","year":"2013","journal-title":"Vib. Spectrosc."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1007\/s11340-013-9792-8","article-title":"Evaluation of the Mechanical Properties of PMMA Reinforced with Carbon Nanotubes\u2014Experiments and Modeling","volume":"54","author":"David","year":"2014","journal-title":"Exp. Mech."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"331","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actamat.2018.05.029","article-title":"A comparative study of structural and electrical properties in lead\u2013free BCZT ceramics: Influence of the synthesis method","volume":"155","author":"Coondoo","year":"2018","journal-title":"Acta Mater."},{"key":"ref_35","first-page":"106","article-title":"Thickness effect on the dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate thin films","volume":"108","author":"Joani","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Baraskar, G.B., Kadhane, P.S., Darvade, T.C., James, A.R., and Kambale, R.C. (2018). BaTiO3-Based Lead\u2013Free Electroceramics with Their Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Properties Tuned by Ca2+, Sn4+ and Zr4+ Substitution Useful for Electrostrictive Device Application. Intechopen Ferroelectr. Its Appl., 113\u2013132.","DOI":"10.5772\/intechopen.77388"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tian, W., Ling, Z., Yu, W., and Shi, J. (2018). A Review of MEMS Scale Piezoelectric Energy Harvester. Appl. Sci., 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/app8040645"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4328","DOI":"10.1063\/1.331211","article-title":"Piezoelectricity of a high content lead zirconate titanate\/polymer composite","volume":"53","author":"Yamada","year":"1982","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6936","DOI":"10.1021\/ma060441o","article-title":"Synthesis and Characterization of Aryl Ethynyl Terminated Liquid Crystalline Oligomers and Their Cured Polymers","volume":"39","author":"Knijnenberg","year":"2006","journal-title":"Macromolecules"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1831","DOI":"10.1007\/s00542-016-2858-7","article-title":"Microstructures replication using high frequency excitation","volume":"22","author":"Sakalys","year":"2016","journal-title":"Microsyst. Technol."},{"key":"ref_41","first-page":"1286","article-title":"Reversible, Specific, Active Aggregates of Endogenous Proteins Assemble upon Heat Stress","volume":"62","author":"Edward","year":"2015","journal-title":"Cell"}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/21\/2\/483\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T05:10:00Z","timestamp":1760159400000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/21\/2\/483"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,12]]},"references-count":41,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]}},"alternative-id":["s21020483"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s21020483","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,12]]}}}