Eliminating lead-exposure in nebulization therapy by lead-free piezoelectric

作者：Fang‐Zhou Yao, Wenying Fan, Yunfan Zhang, Bing Han, Zimin Feng, Binjie Chen, Zhongshang Dou, Jia Jiang, Ziyun Li, Haihan Gao, Chaofeng Wu, Naixin Liang, Yan Wei, Ke Wang, Xin Ma, Wen Gong · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-025-61993-7 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials、Dielectric materials and actuators、Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials

Present main-stream medical ultrasonic nebulizers contain Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-based piezoceramics, which could expose the patients to toxic lead when the acidic liquid medicine, compounded with ultrasonic vibration, corrodes the piezoceramics. Enormous amount of lead ions up to 150 ppm can be extracted when lead-containing piezoceramics were exposed to typical acidic liquid medicines. Thus, a series of nebulization in a course of treatment could easily raise a child’s blood lead level well above the blood lead reference value of 0.035 ppm, causing adverse and likely irreversible health effects. Herein, we introduce the lead-free medical ultrasonic nebulizers based on high-performance (K,Na)NbO3-based lead-free piezoceramics. It’s designed for facile and safe at-home treatment, offering a healthy, safe, and lead-free solution for patients. It also marks the first commercialization of (K,Na)NbO3-based lead-free piezoceramics as a replacement for Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, helping expedite the lead-removing process of piezoelectric materials in general, in line with sustainable development goals worldwide. The present main-stream medical ultrasonic nebulizers contain a usually overlooked health risk of lead exposure as their key components are made of lead-containing piezoceramics. Here the authors introduce a lead-free medical ultrasonic nebulizer, which eliminates lead exposure risk in nebulization therapy and offers a healthy solution for patients.