Morita Luka, Jalali Shima, Vaheb Abolfazl, Elsersawy Rawan, Golwala Kunj, Asad Asad, Dolez Patricia I, Hogan James D, Khondoker Mohammad Abu Hasan, Sameoto Dan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada.
Industrial Systems Engineering, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada.
Micromachines (Basel). 2023 Dec 12;14(12):2227. doi: 10.3390/mi14122227.
We present in this work new methodologies to produce, refine, and interconnect room-temperature liquid-metal-core thermoplastic elastomer wires that have extreme extendibility (>500%), low production time and cost at scale, and may be integrated into commonly used electrical prototyping connectors like a Japan Solderless Terminal (JST) or Dupont connectors. Rather than focus on the development of a specific device, the aim of this work is to demonstrate strategies and processes necessary to achieve scalable production of liquid-metal-enabled electronics and address several key challenges that have been present in liquid metal systems, including leak-free operation, minimal gallium corrosion of other electrode materials, low liquid metal consumption, and high production rates. The ultimate goal is to create liquid-metal-enabled rapid prototyping technologies, similar to what can be achieved with Arduino projects, where modification and switching of components can be performed in seconds, which enables faster iterations of designs. Our process is focused primarily on fibre-based liquid metal wires contained within thermoplastic elastomers. These fibre form factors can easily be integrated with wearable sensors and actuators as they can be sewn or woven into fabrics, or cast within soft robotic components.
在这项工作中，我们展示了用于生产、优化和互连室温液态金属芯热塑性弹性体导线的新方法。这些导线具有极高的拉伸性（>500%），大规模生产时所需时间短且成本低，并且可以集成到常用的电气原型连接器中，如日本无焊端子（JST）或杜邦连接器。这项工作的目的不是专注于特定设备的开发，而是展示实现液态金属电子器件可扩展生产所需的策略和流程，并解决液态金属系统中存在的几个关键挑战，包括无泄漏运行、其他电极材料的镓腐蚀最小化、液态金属消耗低以及生产率高。最终目标是创建类似于Arduino项目的液态金属快速原型技术，在该技术中，组件的修改和切换可以在几秒钟内完成，从而实现更快的设计迭代。我们的工艺主要集中在热塑性弹性体内包含的基于纤维的液态金属导线上。这些纤维形态可以很容易地与可穿戴传感器和致动器集成，因为它们可以缝入或编织到织物中，或浇铸在软机器人部件内。
