A Universal Mechanochemistry Allows On-Demand Synthesis of Stable and Processable Liquid Metal Composites.

Wu, Die; Liu, Dingyao; Tian, Xinyu; Lei, Chuxin; Chen, Xianchun; Zhang, Shiming; Chen, Feng; Wu, Kai; Fu, Qiang

Wu, Die; Liu, Dingyao; Tian, Xinyu; Lei, Chuxin; Chen, Xianchun; Zhang, Shiming; Chen, Feng; Wu, Kai; Fu, Qiang.

Afiliación

Wu D; College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China.
Liu D; College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China.
Tian X; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hongkong, China.
Lei C; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hongkong, China.
Chen X; College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China.
Zhang S; Materials Science and Engineering Program, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
Chen F; College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China.
Wu K; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hongkong, China.
Fu Q; College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China.

Small Methods ; 6(7): e2200246, 2022 Jul.

Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35615947

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Gallium-based liquid metal (LM) is regarded as one of the most promising candidates for the new-generation jigsaw of stretchable electronics. Nonetheless, the obstacle for the LM application lies in its high surface tension and easy fluidity which leads to great difficulty in handling and processing. Herein, a cross-mechanochemistry between liquid metal and inorganic solid, mediated via the coordination binding between the empty electronic orbits of the former and the lone electron pair of the latter is reported. The mechanism is validated via density functional theory calculation and electron energy loss spectroscopy, and experimentally proven to be universally applicable for various liquid metals and inorganic solids. With the unique mechanochemistry, simple ball milling allows on-demand transformation of the liquid metal into a low-surface-tension liquid, semi-solid paste, or even solid powder. The overcoming of the intrinsic high surface tension of the liquid metal with this approach unleashes the freedom to easily process the liquid metal composites into polymer composites or as direct molding processable paste and printable electronic ink.

Palabras clave

composites; inorganic materials; liquid metals; mechanochemistry

Texto completo

Imprimir

XML

PubMed Links

Buscar en Google