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Liquid Metal Fibers

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Abstract

Liquid metal (LM) is a type of metal or alloy that has a low melting point near room temperature and exhibits the properties of both liquids and metals. Such unconventional materials have been gaining increasing attention within the scientific and industrial communities. Recently, fiber-shaped LM and its composites have especially attracted diverse interest owing to their unique merits, such as excellent conductivity, intrinsic stretchability, facile phase transition, and the ability to be woven or knitted into smart fabrics. This review is dedicated to summarizing different aspects of LM-based fibers, such as their material components, fabrication and design strategies, and remarkable applications by way of their representative properties. Typical fabrication approaches, such as 3D printing of pure LM wire, coating the LM shell on the surface of the fiber, injecting a LM core into hollow fibers, and spinning of LM and polymer hybrids have been comparatively illustrated. Moreover, emerging applications that primarily utilize LM fibers have been demonstrated. Finally, future directions and opportunities in the field are discussed. This categorization of LM fibers is expected to facilitate further investigation and practice in the coming society.

Graphical Abstract

TOC: Schematic illustration of liquid metal fibers and their fabrication technologies: 3D printing, coating of liquid metal on fibers, injection of liquid metal into hollow fibers, spinning of LM composites. Liquid metal fibers can be applied as stretchable electronics, smart clothing, health monitoring, electrical switches, and shape memory devices.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Copyright of © 2014 Sci. Rep. b SEM images of LM ultrafine wires with kinked, bent patterns, and 3D structures [92]. Reproduced with permission of Ref. 92, Copyright of © 2019 Sci. Adv

Fig. 4

Copyright of © 2020 ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. Schematic for the c design of a flexible electronic system [47]. Reproduced with permission of Ref.47, Copyright of © 2021 ACS Nano. d The fabrication process of LM based superelastic conductors [96], Reproduced with permission of Ref. 96, Copyright of © 2021 Adv. Funct. Mater. and e multilayer LM-coated fiber [60]. Reproduced with permission of Ref.60, Copyright of © 2021 ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

Fig. 5

Copyright of © 2021 Adv. Energy. Mater. b Schematic diagram for the coaxial wet spinning process for fabricating the LM composite core–shell fibers. c Microscopic images of LMF and human hair. d SEM images of the external surface of LMF and e Knotted microfiber. f The cross-sectional SEM image of LMF. [44] Reproduced with permission of Ref. 44, Copyright of © 2021 Sci. Adv

Fig. 6

Copyright of © 2020 Appl. Mater. Today. Reproduced with permission of Ref.102, Copyright of © 2019 ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

Fig. 7

Copyright of ©2020 Nat. Commun. b A triangular liquid metal stretchable fiber is integrated in a stretchable fabric, which is connected with a custom pulse generator. Pressure on the LMF can be quantified and localized simultaneously from the reflection waveforms. [13] Reproduced with permission of Ref. 13, Copyright of ©2020 Nat. Electron. c Two twisted fibers with LM core capable of sensing the torsion, stretching, and touching by detecting the capacitance change. [36] Reproduced with permission of Ref. 36, Copyright of © 2017 Adv. Funct. Mater

Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Copyright of © 2019 Biosens. Bioelectron. d Schematic and e image of a variable-stiffness fiber (VSF) with an LM core, silicone encapsulation, and a conductive wire. f Tunable stiffness of a VSF controlled by temperature change. g Prototype of VSF-based finger splint, which can be assembled into the fabric with cotton filament. [10] Reproduced with permission of Ref. 10, Copyright of © 2016 Adv. Mater. h A deployable mesh antenna with programming and recovering process changing the phase of LM between liquid and solid [118]. Reproduced with permission of Ref. 118, Copyright of © 2018 Addit. Manuf

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China under Key Project # 91748206, Shuimu Tsinghua Scholarship and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation: 2021M691707.

Funding

National Nature Science Foundation of China under Key Project, 51890893, **g Liu, Postdoctoral Research Foundation of China, 2021M691707, Hongzhang Wang.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Bei**g, 100084, China

    Hongzhang Wang, Ruofan Li, Yingjie Cao, Sen Chen, Bo Yuan, **yu Zhu, Jiashu Cheng, Minghui Duan & **g Liu

  2. Bei**g Key Lab of Cryobiomedical Engineering and Key Lab of Cryogenics, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, 100190, China

    **g Liu

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  1. Hongzhang Wang
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  2. Ruofan Li
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  9. **g Liu
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Correspondence to **g Liu.

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Wang, H., Li, R., Cao, Y. et al. Liquid Metal Fibers. Adv. Fiber Mater. 4, 987–1004 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42765-022-00173-4

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