Room‐Temperature Liquid Metals for Flexible Electronic Devices

Abstract

Room‐temperature gallium‐based liquid metals (RT‐GaLMs) have garnered significant interest recently owing to their extraordinary combination of fluidity, conductivity, stretchability, self‐healing performance, and biocompatibility. They are ideal materials for the manufacture of flexible electronics. By changing the composition and oxidation of RT‐GaLMs, physicochemical characteristics of the liquid metal can be adjusted, especially the regulation of rheological, wetting, and adhesion properties. This review highlights the advancements in the liquid metals used in flexible electronics. Meanwhile related characteristics of RT‐GaLMs and underlying principles governing their processing and applications for flexible electronics are elucidated. Finally, the diverse applications of RT‐GaLMs in self‐healing circuits, flexible sensors, energy harvesting devices, and epidermal electronics, are explored. Additionally, the challenges hindering the progress of RT‐GaLMs are discussed, while proposing future research directions and potential applications in this emerging field. By presenting a concise and critical analysis, this paper contributes to the advancement of RT‐GaLMs as an advanced material applicable for the new generation of flexible electronics.

Investigation of healing electronic pressure-sensitive soft switch based on liquid metal microfiber

“…Although conventional metal conductors such as copper, silver, and gold are applicable for flexible electronics, their poor durability under large strain is a serious obstacle for daily life applications. Therefore, novel materials which can be used in flexible electronic products have increasingly gathered interest in scientific and industrial field [8].…”

“…To overcome these limitations, various approaches have been adopted for assembling liquid metals (LMs) with soft materials [8], such as the adjustment of LMs' physiochemical properties, the introduction of an intermediate adhesion layer, and the design of a flexible substrate with strong adhesive properties. The gallium-based LMs at room temperature (RT-GaLMs) is important for the development of smart flexible electronics.…”

Interfacial interaction-induced super-wettability of gallium-based liquid metals: a review

“…Traditional researches have focused on improving the wettability of GLMs on substrates through physical methods, including changing the roughness of the substrate or breaking oxide layer to release the owing pure liquid metal with the help of external forces. [15][16][17] These physical methods are feasible, and effective results have been achieved. However, the optimization of wettability was not thorough.…”