Phase transition and mechanochemistry enabled lightweight liquid metal skeleton for multifunctional conductive composites

IF 21.8 2区材料科学 Q1 MATERIALS SCIENCE, COMPOSITES

Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials Pub Date : 2025-06-05 DOI:10.1007/s42114-025-01344-8

Jinyang Lu, Biao Ma, Gangsheng Chen, Yi Chen, Yakun Gao, Yanjie Chen, Haoran Deng, Bo Lu, Hong Liu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Stretchable conductive composites show promising applications ranging from wearable electronics to soft robotics. Gallium-based liquid metals (LMs) characterized by both high metallic conductivity and fluidity are ideal deformable fillers for stretchable conductive composites. However, high loading of LM and post-sintering are required to create conductive pathways, leading to high metal consumption, high density of composites, and increased fabrication complexity. Herein, we report a phase transition and mechanochemistry-enabled lightweight three-dimensional LM skeleton with a low density of 0.2 g/cm³ using a salt sacrificial template strategy. The initially conductive skeleton allows the capillary filling of various polymer precursors for sintering-free and on-demand formation of various functional composites. The resulting LM-Ecoflex composite exhibits low metal loading (3.7 vol%), high conductivity (1.3 × 10³ S/m) and stretchability (774% strain), and good durability (ΔR = 1.2% over 10,000 cycles at 100% strain). Moreover, we show the monolithic fabrication of soft robotic actuators, which can be achieved by integrating the LM skeleton with thermally responsive polymers. We also demonstrate potential applications of LM-Ecoflex composites in enhanced electromagnetic shielding and heat transfer. This work provides a versatile way to on-demand create lightweight and multifunctional LM-based soft devices.

Graphical Abstract

A phase transition and mechanochemistry-enabled lightweight three-dimensional liquid metal (LM) skeleton is created using a salt sacrificial template strategy. The initially conductive skeleton allows the capillary filling of various polymer precursors for the sintering-free and on-demand formation of various functional composites. Such lightweight and conductive LM composites have advantages in robotic actuators, electromagnetic shielding, and thermal management.

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相变和机械化学使多功能导电复合材料的轻质液态金属骨架成为可能

从可穿戴电子产品到软机器人，可拉伸导电复合材料的应用前景广阔。镓基液态金属（LMs）具有高金属导电性和高流动性的特点，是可拉伸导电复合材料理想的可变形填料。然而，高负载的LM和后烧结需要创建导电通道，导致高金属消耗，高密度的复合材料，并增加制造的复杂性。在此，我们报告了一种相变和机械化学支持的轻质三维LM骨架，其密度低至0.2 g/cm3，采用盐牺牲模板策略。最初的导电骨架允许毛细管填充各种聚合物前体，用于无烧结和按需形成各种功能复合材料。所得到的LM-Ecoflex复合材料具有低金属载荷（3.7 vol%），高导电性（1.3 × 103 S/m）和拉伸性（774%应变）以及良好的耐久性（ΔR = 1.2%，在100%应变下超过10,000次循环）。此外，我们展示了柔性机器人执行器的整体制造，这可以通过将LM骨架与热响应聚合物集成来实现。我们还展示了LM-Ecoflex复合材料在增强电磁屏蔽和传热方面的潜在应用。这项工作为按需创建轻量级和多功能基于lm的软设备提供了一种通用方法。采用盐牺牲模板策略创建了相变和机械化学支持的轻质三维液态金属（LM）骨架。初始导电骨架允许毛细管填充各种聚合物前体，用于无烧结和按需形成各种功能复合材料。这种轻质导电LM复合材料在机器人执行器、电磁屏蔽和热管理方面具有优势。

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来源期刊

Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials Multiple-

CiteScore

26.00

自引率

21.40%

发文量

185

期刊介绍： Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials is a leading international journal that promotes interdisciplinary collaboration among materials scientists, engineers, chemists, biologists, and physicists working on composites, including nanocomposites. Our aim is to facilitate rapid scientific communication in this field. The journal publishes high-quality research on various aspects of composite materials, including materials design, surface and interface science/engineering, manufacturing, structure control, property design, device fabrication, and other applications. We also welcome simulation and modeling studies that are relevant to composites. Additionally, papers focusing on the relationship between fillers and the matrix are of particular interest. Our scope includes polymer, metal, and ceramic matrices, with a special emphasis on reviews and meta-analyses related to materials selection. We cover a wide range of topics, including transport properties, strategies for controlling interfaces and composition distribution, bottom-up assembly of nanocomposites, highly porous and high-density composites, electronic structure design, materials synergisms, and thermoelectric materials. Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials follows a rigorous single-blind peer-review process to ensure the quality and integrity of the published work.