Lee Gun-Hee, Lee Ye Rim, Kim Hanul, Kwon Do A, Kim Hyeonji, Yang Congqi, Choi Siyoung Q, Park Seongjun, Jeong Jae-Woong, Park Steve
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
School of Electrical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
Nat Commun. 2022 May 12;13(1):2643. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30427-z.
Liquid metal is being regarded as a promising material for soft electronics owing to its distinct combination of high electrical conductivity comparable to that of metals and exceptional deformability derived from its liquid state. However, the applicability of liquid metal is still limited due to the difficulty in simultaneously achieving its mechanical stability and initial conductivity. Furthermore, reliable and rapid patterning of stable liquid metal directly on various soft substrates at high-resolution remains a formidable challenge. In this work, meniscus-guided printing of ink containing polyelectrolyte-attached liquid metal microgranular-particle in an aqueous solvent to generate semi-solid-state liquid metal is presented. Liquid metal microgranular-particle printed in the evaporative regime is mechanically stable, initially conductive, and patternable down to 50 μm on various substrates. Demonstrations of the ultrastretchable (~500% strain) electrical circuit, customized e-skin, and zero-waste ECG sensor validate the simplicity, versatility, and reliability of this manufacturing strategy, enabling broad utility in the development of advanced soft electronics.
液态金属因其具有与金属相当的高电导率和源自其液态的出色可变形性这一独特组合，而被视为用于软电子学的一种很有前景的材料。然而，由于难以同时实现其机械稳定性和初始导电性，液态金属的适用性仍然有限。此外，在各种软基板上以高分辨率直接对稳定的液态金属进行可靠且快速的图案化仍然是一项艰巨的挑战。在这项工作中，我们展示了在水性溶剂中通过弯月面引导印刷含有聚电解质附着液态金属微粒的墨水来生成半固态液态金属。在蒸发状态下印刷的液态金属微粒在机械上是稳定的，具有初始导电性，并且在各种基板上可图案化至50微米。超拉伸（~500%应变）电路、定制电子皮肤和零浪费心电图传感器的演示验证了这种制造策略的简单性、多功能性和可靠性，使其在先进软电子学的开发中具有广泛的用途。
