Han Jialuo, Tang Jianbo, Idrus-Saidi Shuhada A, Christoe Michael J, O'Mullane Anthony P, Kalantar-Zadeh Kourosh
School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Jul 8;12(27):31010-31020. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c07697. Epub 2020 Jun 25.
Metal melt extrusion in gaseous or vacuum environments is a classical approach for forming wires. However, such extrusions have not been investigated in ionic solutions. Here, we use liquid metal (LM) gallium (Ga) and its eutectic alloy with indium (EGaIn) to explore the possibility of electrochemical extrusion of wires and study the tuning of the self-liming oxide layers as the coating for these wires formed during the process. By controlling the surface tension of the LM immersed in an electrolyte, and through the electrocapillary effect, we enable the extrusion of LM wires. The surface morphologies of LM wires and the thickness of the oxide layers are investigated when Ga and EGaIn are processed in neutral and basic electrolytes using various voltages. Taking advantage of the LM oxides, we show that LM wires offer tunable surface oxide thickness and composition using the electrochemical system and investigate the related working mechanisms. The wires are formed into patterns using an automated stage and show a self-healing capability. This work presents an unconventional method for electrochemical fabrication of LM wires, offering prospects for further research and industrial scale-up.
在气态或真空环境中进行金属熔体挤压是一种经典的线材成型方法。然而，尚未在离子溶液中对这种挤压工艺进行研究。在此，我们使用液态金属（LM）镓（Ga）及其与铟的共晶合金（EGaIn）来探索电化学挤压线材的可能性，并研究在该过程中形成的作为这些线材涂层的自限性氧化层的调控。通过控制浸入电解质中的液态金属的表面张力，并借助电毛细效应，我们实现了液态金属线材的挤压。当使用不同电压在中性和碱性电解质中对Ga和EGaIn进行处理时，研究了液态金属线材的表面形貌和氧化层的厚度。利用液态金属氧化物，我们表明液态金属线材在电化学系统中具有可调节的表面氧化物厚度和成分，并研究了相关的工作机制。这些线材使用自动平台形成图案，并显示出自我修复能力。这项工作提出了一种用于电化学制造液态金属线材的非常规方法，为进一步研究和工业规模扩大提供了前景。
