Fabrication and Properties of Flexible Gallium-based Liquid Metal Wires Encapsulated in 3D Printed Polyurethane Microchannel
GENG Jiye1, LAN Jiaxin1, LIU Tong2, ZHUGE Xiangqun2, LUO Zhihong1, LI Yibing1, LUO Kun1,2
1 College of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China 2 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
Abstract: Flexible liquid metal wires were fabricated by the injection and encapsulation of GaInSn liquid metal TPU into flexible polyurethane microchannels fabricated by 3D printing. Morphology and composition of GaInSn liquid metal were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). A multimeter and an electrochemical workstation were used to test the conductive properties of flexible wires of different sizes under the action of the liquid metal in the complex flow channel and external forces, and compared with commercial FPCs to test the fatigue resistance of the flexible wires under repeated bending and double folding. The results show that the liquid metal is composed of 67.2% Ga, 20.1% In and 12.7% Sn by mass. It can be combined with TPU flexible material to prepare a multilayer complex structure circuit; under pressure (0—190 N) and bending deformation (0—360°), the external force has basically no effect on the conduction performance of the liquid metal flexible wire. Among them, when the cross-sectional dimension of the micro-channel is 0.5 mm×0.5 mm, the external force has the least influence on it; compared with commercial FPC, the metal flexible wire did not break under the condition of cyclic bending for 24 hours and double folding and compacting 200 times, and its resistance increased by only 0.02 Ω; it showed the huge application potential of liquid metal in the field of complex flexible circuit manufacturing.
耿继业, 蓝嘉昕, 刘通, 诸葛祥群, 罗志虹, 李义兵, 罗鲲. 3D打印聚氨酯微流道封装镓基液态金属柔性导线及其性能[J]. 材料导报, 2021, 35(20): 20040-20044.
GENG Jiye, LAN Jiaxin, LIU Tong, ZHUGE Xiangqun, LUO Zhihong, LI Yibing, LUO Kun. Fabrication and Properties of Flexible Gallium-based Liquid Metal Wires Encapsulated in 3D Printed Polyurethane Microchannel. Materials Reports, 2021, 35(20): 20040-20044.
1 Qin Q, Liu Y W, Wang Y G, et al. Electronic Components and Mate-rials,2017,36(4),1(in Chinese). 秦琴,刘宜伟,王永刚,等.电子元件与材料,2017,36(4),1. 2 Deng B, Cheng G J. Advanced Materials,2019,31(14),1807811. 3 Katsuyama Y, Nakayasu Y, Oizumi K, et al. Advanced Sustainable Systems,2019,3(11),11224. 4 Hung C J, Liu C H, Wang C H, et al. Renewable Energy,2015,78(4),364. 5 Yuan X. Construction of three-dimensional porous structure of graphene and its effect on properties of flexible piezoresistive materials. Master’s Thesis, South China University of Technology, China,2017(in Chinese). 袁雪.石墨烯三维多孔结构的构筑及其对柔性压阻材料性能的影响.硕士学位论文,华南理工大学,2017. 6 Yue R R, Wang H C, Liu X P, et al. Materials Reports A:Review Papers,2019,33(11),3580(in Chinese). 岳瑞瑞,王会才,刘霞平,等.材料导报:综述篇,2019,33(11),3580. 7 Pasha A, Khasim S. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electro-nics,2020,31(12),9185. 8 Yoonchul Sohn, Kunmo Chu. Elsevier,2020,23(11),265. 9 Tang X, Khodasevych I E, Rowe W S T. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation,2017(1),1. 10 Zhou Y L, Liu Y W, Guo Z Y, et al. Functional Materials,2018,49(3),3152(in Chinese). 周酉林,刘宜伟,郭智勇,等.功能材料,2018,49(3),3152. 11 Kyeongseob K, Dongju L, Seunghyun E, et al. Sensors,2016,11(5),231. 12 Liu T. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems,2012,21(2),443. 13 Michael D, Ryan C, Ryan J, et al. WILEY-VCH Verlag,2008,18(7),431. 14 Jin S W, Park J, Hong S Y, et al. Scientific Reports,2015,5,11695. 15 Mohammed M G, Dickey M D. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical,2013,193,246. 16 Yang X H, Tan S C, Liu J. Journal of Engineering Thermal Physics,2019,40(4),196(in Chinese). 杨小虎,谭思聪,刘静.工程热物理学报,2019,40(4),196. 17 Zhou Y L. Wearable stress sensor based on room-temperature liquid metal. Master’s Thesis, Ningbo University, China,2018(in Chinese). 周酉林.基于室温液态金属的可穿戴应力传感器研究.硕士学位论文,宁波大学,2018. 18 Wang Q, Yu Y, Yang J, et al. Advanced Materials,2015,27(44),7109. 19 Yu Y, Liu F, Zhang R, et al. Advanced Materials Technologies,2017,5(7),1700173. 20 Boley J W, White E L, Kramer R K. Advanced Materials,2015,27(14),2355. 21 Lin Y, Cooper C, Wang M, et al. Small,2015,11(48),2033.