Lee Simok, Jaseem Syed Ahmed, Atar Nurit, Wang Meixiang, Kim Jeong Yong, Zare Mohammadreza, Kim Sooyoung, Bartlett Michael D, Jeong Jae-Woong, Dickey Michael D
School of Electrical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University (NCSU), Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States.
Chem Rev. 2025 Mar 26;125(6):3551-3585. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.4c00850. Epub 2025 Mar 4.
This review focuses on the sintering of liquid metal particles (LMPs). Here, sintering means the partial merging or connecting of particles (or droplets) to form a network of percolated and, thus, conductive electrical pathways. LMPs are attractive materials because they can be suspended in a carrier fluid to create printable inks or distributed in an elastomer to create soft, stretchable composites. However, films and traces of LMPs are not typically conductive as fabricated due to the native oxide that forms on the surface of the particles. In the case of composites, polymers can also get between particles, making sintering more challenging. Sintering can be done via a variety of ways, such as mechanical, thermal, and chemical processing. This review discusses the mechanisms to sinter these particles, patterning techniques that use sintering, unique properties of sintered LMPs, and their practical applications in fields such as stretchable electronics, soft robotics, and active materials.
本综述聚焦于液态金属颗粒（LMPs）的烧结。在此，烧结是指颗粒（或液滴）的部分融合或连接，以形成渗透的、因而具有导电能力的网络通路。LMPs是具有吸引力的材料，因为它们可以悬浮在载液中以制成可印刷油墨，或分布在弹性体中以制成柔软、可拉伸的复合材料。然而，由于颗粒表面形成的天然氧化物，LMPs制成的薄膜和线路通常不具有导电性。在复合材料的情况下，聚合物也会进入颗粒之间，使烧结更具挑战性。烧结可以通过多种方式进行，如机械、热和化学处理。本综述讨论了烧结这些颗粒的机制、使用烧结的图案化技术、烧结LMPs的独特性能，以及它们在可拉伸电子学、软体机器人技术和活性材料等领域的实际应用。
