Imbibition-induced selective wetting of liquid metal

Ji-Hye Kim, Sooyoung Kim, Hyeonjin Kim, Sanghyuk Wooh, Jiung Cho, Michael D. Dickey, Ju-Hee So () and Hyung-Jun Koo ()
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Ji-Hye Kim: Seoul National University of Science & Technology
Sooyoung Kim: Seoul National University of Science & Technology
Hyeonjin Kim: Chung-Ang University
Sanghyuk Wooh: Chung-Ang University
Jiung Cho: Western Seoul Center, Korea Basic Science Institute
Michael D. Dickey: North Carolina State University
Ju-Hee So: Korea Institute of Industrial Technology
Hyung-Jun Koo: Seoul National University of Science & Technology

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Herein, we present the imbibition-induced, spontaneous, and selective wetting characteristics of gallium-based liquid metal alloys on a metallized surface with micro-scale topographical features. Gallium-based liquid metal alloys are fascinating materials that have enormous surface tension; therefore, they are difficult to pattern into films. The complete wetting of eutectic alloy of gallium and indium is realized on microstructured copper surfaces in the presence of HCl vapor, which removes the native oxide from the liquid metal alloy. This wetting is numerically explained based on the Wenzel’s model and imbibition process, revealing that the dimensions of the microstructures are critical for effective imbibition-driven wetting of the liquid metal. Further, we demonstrate that the spontaneous wetting of the liquid metal can be directed selectively along the microstructured region on the metallic surface to create patterns. This simple process enables the uniform coating and patterning of the liquid metal over large areas without an external force or complex processing. We demonstrate that the liquid metal-patterned substrates maintain electrical connection even in a stretched state and after repetitive stretching cycles.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32259-3

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