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Nano Research 2024, 17(6): 5595-5603 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6516-6
Research Article | Issue | Published: 03 April 2024

High precision patternable liquid metal based conductor and adhesive substrate enabled stretchable hybrid systems

Show Author's Information Runhui Zhou1,2,§,  Jiaoya Huang1,§,  Zemin Li1,2,  Yushu Wang3,  Ziyu Chen3,  Caofeng Pan1,2,4( )
CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101400, China
School of Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Center on Nanoenergy Research, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Institute of Atomic Manufacturing, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

§ Runhui Zhou and Jiaoya Huang contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
liquid metal, interfacial adhesion, stretchable hybrid systems, high precision
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Zhou R, Huang J, Li Z, et al. High precision patternable liquid metal based conductor and adhesive substrate enabled stretchable hybrid systems. Nano Research, 2024, 17(6): 5595-5603. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6516-6
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Stretchable hybrid systems have been attracting tremendous attention for their essential role in soft robotics, on-skin electronics, and implantable devices. Both rigid and soft functional modules are typically required in those devices. Consequently, ensuring stable electrical contact between rigid and soft modules is a vital part. Here, we propose a simple, universal, and scalable strategy for the stretchable hybrid system through a highly precise printable liquid metal particle-based conductor and adhesive fluorine rubber substrate. The properties of liquid metal particle-based conductors could be easily tuned to realize high-precision patterning, large-scale printing, and the ability to print on various substrates. Additionally, the fluorine rubber substrate could form strong interfacial adhesion with various components and materials through simply pressing and heating, hence enabling stable electrical contact. Furthermore, we prepared a stretchable hybrid light-emitting diode (LED) display system and employed it in on-skin visualization of pressure levels, which perfectly combined rigid and soft modules, thus demonstrating the promising potential applications in complex multifunctional stretchable hybrid systems for emerging technologies.


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Abstract
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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

High precision patternable liquid metal based conductor and adhesive substrate enabled stretchable hybrid systems

Show Author's information Runhui Zhou1,2,§, Jiaoya Huang1,§, Zemin Li1,2, Yushu Wang3, Ziyu Chen3, Caofeng Pan1,2,4( )
CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101400, China
School of Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Center on Nanoenergy Research, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Institute of Atomic Manufacturing, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

§ Runhui Zhou and Jiaoya Huang contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Stretchable hybrid systems have been attracting tremendous attention for their essential role in soft robotics, on-skin electronics, and implantable devices. Both rigid and soft functional modules are typically required in those devices. Consequently, ensuring stable electrical contact between rigid and soft modules is a vital part. Here, we propose a simple, universal, and scalable strategy for the stretchable hybrid system through a highly precise printable liquid metal particle-based conductor and adhesive fluorine rubber substrate. The properties of liquid metal particle-based conductors could be easily tuned to realize high-precision patterning, large-scale printing, and the ability to print on various substrates. Additionally, the fluorine rubber substrate could form strong interfacial adhesion with various components and materials through simply pressing and heating, hence enabling stable electrical contact. Furthermore, we prepared a stretchable hybrid light-emitting diode (LED) display system and employed it in on-skin visualization of pressure levels, which perfectly combined rigid and soft modules, thus demonstrating the promising potential applications in complex multifunctional stretchable hybrid systems for emerging technologies.

Keywords: liquid metal, interfacial adhesion, stretchable hybrid systems, high precision

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 23 December 2023
Revised: 24 January 2024
Accepted: 25 January 2024
Published: 03 April 2024
Issue date: June 2024

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2024

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52125205, U20A20166, and 52192614), National Key Research and Development Program of China (Nos. 2021YFB3200302 and 2021YFB3200304), Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality (No. 2222088), Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (No. KQTD20170810105439418), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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