Issue 3, 2022

Intermetallic wetting enabled high resolution liquid metal patterning for 3D and flexible electronics

Abstract

Liquid metals, highly conductive and flowable metals, are increasingly becoming versatile choices for soft electronics and wearable devices. High resolution liquid metal patterning strategies accommodative to different substrate materials and geometries are highly desirable. Here, the intermetallic wetting effect between an oxide-free eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) alloy and a high-surface-energy gold (Au) precursory layer is utilised to fabricate EGaIn patterns with resolutions up to 1.3 μm. The feasibility, reliability, and precision of the method for patterning EGaIn on planar, non-planar, rigid, and flexible substrates of different materials are highlighted. The liquid metal patterns are found to self-adapt to well-defined, curved cross-sectional profiles and their electrical conducting behaviours correlate well with their geometrical dimensions. The EGaIn tracks on flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and Ecoflex substrates show reversible resistance changes during repeated strain test, revealing excellent stability under mechanical deformations. A fully functional 3D liquid metal circuit and a resistive motion sensor are designed to demonstrate the potentials of the method for fabricating 3D electronic devices and flexible sensors.

Graphical abstract: Intermetallic wetting enabled high resolution liquid metal patterning for 3D and flexible electronics

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Okt. 2021
Accepted
08 Dec. 2021
First published
08 Dec. 2021

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022,10, 921-931

Intermetallic wetting enabled high resolution liquid metal patterning for 3D and flexible electronics

L. Johnston, J. Yang, J. Han, K. Kalantar-Zadeh and J. Tang, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 921 DOI: 10.1039/D1TC04877E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements