Fully solution processed liquid metal features as highly conductive and ultrastretchable conductors

Abstract Liquid metal represents a highly conductive and inherently deformable conductor for the development of stretchable electronics. The widespread implementations of liquid metal towards functional sensors and circuits are currently hindered by the lack of a facile and scalable patterning appro...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hangyu Zhu, Shaolei Wang, Menghu Zhang, Tingyu Li, Gaohua Hu, Desheng Kong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2021-09-01
Series:npj Flexible Electronics
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-021-00123-x
Description
Summary:Abstract Liquid metal represents a highly conductive and inherently deformable conductor for the development of stretchable electronics. The widespread implementations of liquid metal towards functional sensors and circuits are currently hindered by the lack of a facile and scalable patterning approach. In this study, we report a fully solution-based process to generate patterned features of the liquid metal conductor. The entire process is carried out under ambient conditions and is generally compatible with various elastomeric substrates. The as-prepared liquid metal feature exhibits high resolution (100 μm), excellent electrical conductivity (4.15 × 104S cm−1), ultrahigh stretchability (1000% tensile strain), and mechanical durability. The practical suitability is demonstrated by the heterogeneous integration of light-emitting diode (LED) chips with liquid metal interconnects for a stretchable and wearable LED array. The solution-based technique reported here is the enabler for the facile patterning of liquid metal features at low cost, which may find a broad range of applications in emerging fields of epidermal sensors, wearable heaters, advanced prosthetics, and soft robotics.
ISSN:2397-4621