Liquid metals enabled advanced cryobiology: development and perspectives

Abstract

Cryosurgery and cryopreservation, as two important categories in cryobiology, have been impeded by the poor thermal conductivity of biological tissues or specimens. To improve this, diverse adjuvants, e.g., carbon-based materials, metallic nanoparticles, metallic oxide nanoparticles, etc ., have been exploited to improve the heat transfer in heat-targeted regions to increase the tumor elimination efficiency as well as the post-thaw viability of cryopreserved specimens. Nevertheless, these materials suffer poor thermal conductivities, controversial biosafety problems, and high expense. Gallium and its alloys, as a class of room-temperature liquid metals (LMs), have been widely studied in the past decade for their low melting point, minor toxicity, outstanding transformability, and conductivity. Integrated with these superior properties, they have been widely applied in multiple fields, such as thermal management, flexible electronics, and soft robotics. Recently, our laboratory has been devoted to fusing LMs with cryobiology and has made a series of progress. In this article, we will first briefly introduce preparation pathways to LM-based functional nanomaterials and composites. Then, how these materials realize improvement in biological heat transfer will be presented, followed by a discussion about the biosafety of these materials, which is an essential concern for the cryobiological field. Recent studies employing LMs in advanced cryosurgery and cryopreservation will also be highlighted. The present challenges and prospects of LMs towards further development in cryobiology will be put forward to point out the possible research direction.