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Li X, Jiang M, Du Y, Ding X, Xiao C, Wang Y, Yang Y, Zhuo Y, Zheng K, Liu X, Chen L, Gong Y, Tian X, Zhang X. Self-healing liquid metal hydrogel for human-computer interaction and infrared camouflage. MATERIALS HORIZONS 2023; 10:2945-2957. [PMID: 37165676 DOI: 10.1039/d3mh00341h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Due to their mechanical flexibility, conductive hydrogels have been widely investigated in the fields of flexible electronics and soft robots, but their non-negligible disadvantages, such as poor toughness and limited self-healing, severally restrict their practical application. Herein, gallium indium alloy (EGaIn) is utilized to initiate the polymerization and simultaneously serve as flexible fillers to construct a super-stretchable and self-healing liquid metal/polyvinyl alcohol/p(acrylamide-co-octadecyl methacrylate) (liquid metal/PVA/P(AAm-co-SMA)) double network hydrogel (LM hydrogel). The synergistic effect of the rigid PVA microcrystal network and the ductile P(AAm-co-SMA) hydrophobic network, together with the ionic coordination and hydrogen bonds between polymer networks (multiple physical cross-links), endow the LM hydrogel with excellent super-stretchability (2000%), toughness (3.00 MJ m-3), notch resistance, and self-healing property (healing efficiency > 99% at 25 °C after 24 h). The LM hydrogel exhibits sensitive strain sensing behavior, allowing human-computer interaction to achieve motion recognition and health monitoring. Significantly, owing to the excellent photothermal effect and low infrared emissivity of EGaIn, the LM hydrogel reveals great potential in infrared camouflage. The work of self-healing conductive liquid metal hydrogels will promote the research and practical application of hydrogels and liquid metal in intelligent devices and military fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaofei Li
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Miao Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Yiming Du
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Xin Ding
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
| | - Chao Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
| | - Yanyan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
| | - Yanyu Yang
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450001, China.
| | - Yizhi Zhuo
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
| | - Kang Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
| | - Xianglan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
| | - Lin Chen
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
| | - Yi Gong
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
| | - Xingyou Tian
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Xian Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
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Neumann TV, Kara B, Sargolzaeiaval Y, Im S, Ma J, Yang J, Ozturk MC, Dickey MD. Aerosol Spray Deposition of Liquid Metal and Elastomer Coatings for Rapid Processing of Stretchable Electronics. MICROMACHINES 2021; 12:146. [PMID: 33535606 PMCID: PMC7912875 DOI: 10.3390/mi12020146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Revised: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We report a spray deposition technique for patterning liquid metal alloys to form stretchable conductors, which can then be encapsulated in silicone elastomers via the same spraying procedure. While spraying has been used previously to deposit many materials, including liquid metals, this work focuses on quantifying the spraying process and combining it with silicones. Spraying generates liquid metal microparticles (~5 μm diameter) that pass through openings in a stencil to produce traces with high resolution (~300 µm resolution using stencils from a craft cutter) on a substrate. The spraying produces sufficient kinetic energy (~14 m/s) to distort the particles on impact, which allows them to merge together. This merging process depends on both particle size and velocity. Particles of similar size do not merge when cast as a film. Likewise, smaller particles (<1 µm) moving at the same speed do not rupture on impact either, though calculations suggest that such particles could rupture at higher velocities. The liquid metal features can be encased by spraying uncured silicone elastomer from a volatile solvent to form a conformal coating that does not disrupt the liquid metal features during spraying. Alternating layers of liquid metal and elastomer may be patterned sequentially to build multilayer devices, such as soft and stretchable sensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taylor V. Neumann
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (T.V.N.); (S.I.); (J.M.); (J.Y.)
| | - Berra Kara
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (B.K.); (Y.S.); (M.C.O.)
| | - Yasaman Sargolzaeiaval
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (B.K.); (Y.S.); (M.C.O.)
| | - Sooik Im
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (T.V.N.); (S.I.); (J.M.); (J.Y.)
| | - Jinwoo Ma
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (T.V.N.); (S.I.); (J.M.); (J.Y.)
| | - Jiayi Yang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (T.V.N.); (S.I.); (J.M.); (J.Y.)
| | - Mehmet C. Ozturk
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (B.K.); (Y.S.); (M.C.O.)
| | - Michael D. Dickey
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; (T.V.N.); (S.I.); (J.M.); (J.Y.)
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