Defect-free, high resolution patterning of liquid metals using reversibly sealed, reusable polydimethylsiloxane microchannels for flexible electronic applications. Issue 27 (28th June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yang, Jinbin; Zhou, Tingjiao; Zhang, Liyun; Zhu, Deyong; Handschuh-Wang, Stephan; Liu, Zhou; Kong, Tiantian; Liu, Yizhen; Zhang, Junmin; Zhou, Xuechang
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 5:Issue 27(2017)
• Page Start: 6790
• Page End: 6797
• Publication Date: 2017-06-28
• Subjects: Materials -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Optical materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Electronics -- Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c7tc01918a
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7526

Abstract

Abstract : High quality patterns of liquid metals were fabricated by transferring frozen liquid metals from PDMS microchannels to PDMS substrates. Abstract : This paper describes a simple and reliable approach for high-resolution patterning of liquid metals onto elastomeric substrates and their applications in flexible and wearable electronics. In this method, the liquid metal eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) alloy was first dispensed into an air plasma-treated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate through a reversibly sealed PDMS microchannel. The liquid metal-filled substrate was then placed on a cold plate, where the liquid metal was solidified. Finally, defect-free patterns were obtained by directly peeling off the PDMS microchannel on a hot plate while the liquid metal started to melt. The as-made liquid metal patterns exhibited excellent electrical and mechanical performance. As a proof of concept, the as-made flexible patterns of liquid metals were applied as flexible electrical conductors, capacitive sensors, and touch keyboards.