Yao Yuchen, Chen Sen, Ye Jiao, Cui Yuntao, Deng Zhongshan
CAS Key Laboratory of Cryogenics, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Dec 22;13(50):60660-60671. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c18824. Epub 2021 Dec 13.
Liquid metal (LM) droplets covered with functional materials, especially metallic, often make breakthroughs in performance and functionality. In this study, self-assembly was used to synthesize copper films on the surface of LM. Herein, using CuO nanoparticles as the monomers, driven by the electrostatic interaction between CuO and eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) in the alkaline environment, EGaIn@Cu is realized by taking advantage of the reducing property of the EGaIn-alkaline interface. The copper film is smooth and dense, and under its protection, a layer of gallium oxide remains on the reaction interface between copper and LM, which enabled EGaIn@Cu to possess the volt-ampere curves similar to the Schottky mode, showing that the proposed mechanism has the potential to be used in the bottom-up synthesis of the semiconductor junction. Owing to the support of the copper film, the stiffness coefficient of the LM droplet can be increased by 56.9%. Coupled with the melting latent heat of 55.46 J/g and the natural high density of metal, EGaIn@Cu is also a potential phase change capsule. In addition, a method based on stream jetting and self-breaking up mechanisms of LM to batch-produce sub-millimeter capsules was also introduced. The above structural and functional characteristics demonstrate the value of this work in related fields.
覆盖有功能材料（尤其是金属材料）的液态金属（LM）液滴，其性能和功能常常会取得突破。在本研究中，采用自组装方法在LM表面合成铜膜。在此，以CuO纳米颗粒为单体，在碱性环境中利用CuO与共晶镓铟（EGaIn）之间的静电相互作用，借助EGaIn - 碱性界面的还原性实现了EGaIn@Cu。铜膜光滑致密，在其保护下，铜与LM的反应界面上会残留一层氧化镓，这使得EGaIn@Cu具有类似于肖特基模式的伏安曲线，表明所提出的机制有潜力用于自下而上合成半导体结。由于铜膜的支撑作用，LM液滴的刚度系数可提高56.9%。再加上55.46 J/g的熔化潜热以及金属固有的高密度，EGaIn@Cu也是一种潜在的相变胶囊。此外，还介绍了一种基于LM的流喷射和自破碎机制批量生产亚毫米级胶囊的方法。上述结构和功能特性证明了这项工作在相关领域的价值。
