Liu Huaizhi, Xin Yumeng, Bisoyi Hari Krishna, Peng Yan, Zhang Jiuyang, Li Quan
Institute of Advanced Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Jiangsu Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Biomedical Research, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China.
Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA.
Adv Mater. 2021 Oct;33(43):e2104634. doi: 10.1002/adma.202104634. Epub 2021 Sep 19.
Metal-polymer composites (MPCs) with combined properties of metals and polymers have achieved much industrial success. However, metals in MPCs are thought to be ordinary and invariable electrically conductive fillers in supportive polymers to show limited use in modern technologies. This work that is disclosed here, for the first time, introduces stimuli-driven transition from biphasic to monophasic state of liquid metal into polymer science to form dynamic soft conductors from the binary metal-polymer composites. The binary metal that exhibits temperature-driven reversible transition between solid and liquid states via a biphasic state is fabricated. A conducting stretchable polymer composite is developed using the judiciously chosen biphasic binary metal that undergoes conductor to insulator transition upon stretching. Insulating stretched films become conducting upon heating. A "tube" model elegantly describes such distinctive deformation/temperature-dependent behaviors. Moreover, the conducting polymer composite shows decrease in its resistance upon increasing the sample temperature. The resistance can be tuned from 1 to 10 Ω depending on the state of binary metal in the phase diagram. This work would build the intimate and interesting connection between metal phases and polymer science toward next-generation soft conductors and beyond.
具有金属和聚合物综合性能的金属-聚合物复合材料（MPCs）已在工业上取得了很大成功。然而，MPCs中的金属被认为是支撑聚合物中普通且不变的导电填料，在现代技术中的应用有限。本文首次披露的这项工作，将液态金属从双相到单相状态的刺激驱动转变引入聚合物科学，以从二元金属-聚合物复合材料形成动态软导体。制备了一种通过双相状态在固态和液态之间呈现温度驱动可逆转变的二元金属。使用经过精心选择的双相二元金属开发了一种导电可拉伸聚合物复合材料，该复合材料在拉伸时会发生从导体到绝缘体的转变。绝缘拉伸薄膜在加热时会变成导体。一个“管状”模型巧妙地描述了这种独特的与变形/温度相关的行为。此外，导电聚合物复合材料在样品温度升高时电阻会降低。根据相图中二元金属的状态，电阻可在1至10Ω之间调节。这项工作将在金属相和聚合物科学之间建立紧密而有趣的联系，以推动下一代及更先进的软导体发展。
