Journal Home Online First Current Issue Archive For Authors Journal Information 中文版

Engineering >> 2020, Volume 6, Issue 12 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2019.08.020

Al-NaOH-Composited Liquid Metal: A Fast-Response Water-Triggered Material with Thermal and Pneumatic Properties

a Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
b Key Laboratory of Cryogenics, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Received: 2019-07-08 Revised: 2019-08-15 Accepted: 2019-08-27 Available online: 2020-07-30

Next Previous

Abstract

Water-triggered materials are receiving increasing attentions due to their diverse capabilities such as easy operation, soft actuation, low cost, environmental friendliness, and many more other advantages. However, most of such materials generally have a long reaction time and require strict preservation conditions, which limit their adaptability in practice. In this study, a novel water-triggered material based on Al-NaOH-composited eutectic gallium–indium alloys (eGaIn) was proposed and demonstrated, which is rather fast-responsive and deformable. Once water is applied, the material thus fabricated would achieve a temperature rise of 40 °C in just several seconds along with gas production, indicating its big potential to be used as a thermal and pneumatic actuator. Further, the new material's reusability and degradation ability were also tested. Following that, a double-layer-structure smart bandage was designed, whose bulk was filled with Al-NaOH-composited eGaIn while BiInSn served as outer supporting material. According to the experiments, a sheet structure with a thickness of 2 mm would support a weight of 1.8 kg after it was subjected to a cooling process, which is much better than the weight-bearing capability of fiberglass. In addition, a prototype of a water-triggered sphere robot was also fabricated using Al-NaOH-eGaIn, which realized rolling and bouncing behaviors under specific external stimulation. These findings indicate the potential value of the present material in developing future wearable devices, soft actuators, and soft robotics.

Figures

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

References

[ 1 ] Huang Y, Cheng H, Shi G, Qu L. Highly efficient moisture-triggered nanogenerator based on graphene quantum dots. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2017;9(44):38170–5. link1

[ 2 ] Gao Y, Zhang Y, Wang X, Sim K, Liu J, Chen J, et al. Moisture-triggered physically transient electronics. Sci Adv 2017;3(9):e1701222. link1

[ 3 ] Cheng H, Liu J, Zhao Y, Hu C, Zhang Z, Chen N, et al. Graphene fibers with predetermined deformation as moisture-triggered actuators and robots. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2013;52(40):10482–6. link1

[ 4 ] Jiang ZC, Xiao YY, Kang Y, Li BJ, Zhang S. Semi-IPNs with moisture-triggered shape memory and self-healing properties. Macromol Rapid Commun 2017;38 (14):1700149. link1

[ 5 ] Wang W, Xiang C, Liu Q, Li M, Zhong W, Yan K, et al. Natural alginate fiberbased actuator driven by water or moisture for energy harvesting and smart controller applications. J Mater Chem A Mater Energy Sustain 2018;6 (45):22599–608. link1

[ 6 ] Cheng H, Hu Y, Zhao F, Dong Z, Wang Y, Chen N, et al. Moisture-activated torsional graphene-fiber motor. Adv Mater 2014;26(18):2909–13. link1

[ 7 ] Yang B, Huang WM, Li C, Lee CM, Li L. On the effects of moisture in a polyurethane shape memory polymer. Smart Mater Struct 2003;13(1): 191–5. link1

[ 8 ] Gu X, Mather PT. Water-triggered shape memory of multiblock thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs). RSC Adv 2013;3(36):15783–91. link1

[ 9 ] Fassler A, Majidi C. Liquid-phase metal inclusions for a conductive polymer composite. Adv Mater 2015;27(11):1928–32. link1

[10] Yu YZ, Lu JR, Liu J. 3D printing for functional electronics by injection and package of liquid metals into channels of mechanical structures. Mater Des 2017;122:80–9. link1

[11] Yang XH, Liu J. Liquid metal enabled combinatorial heat transfer science: toward unconventional extreme cooling. Front Energy 2018;12(2): 259–75. link1

[12] Chu K, Song BG, Yang HI, Kim DM, Lee CS, Park M, et al. Smart passivation materials with a liquid metal microcapsule as self-healing conductors for sustainable and flexible perovskite solar cells. Adv Funct Mater 2018;28 (22):1800110. link1

[13] Gao Y, Li H, Liu J. Direct writing of flexible electronics through room temperature liquid metal ink. PLoS ONE 2012;7(9):e45485. link1

[14] Zheng Y, He ZZ, Yang J, Liu J. Personal electronics printing via tapping mode composite liquid metal ink delivery and adhesion mechanism. Sci Rep 2014;4 (1):1–8. link1

[15] Nathan A, Ahnood A, Cole MT, Lee S, Suzuki Y, Hiralal P, et al. Flexible electronics: the next ubiquitous platform. Proc IEEE 2012;100(Special Centennial Issue):1486–517.

[16] Chang H, Guo R, Sun Z, Wang H, Hou Y, Wang Q, et al. Direct writing and repairable paper flexible electronics using nickel–liquid metal ink. Adv Mater Interfaces 2018;5(20):1800571. link1

[17] Tang J, Zhao X, Li J, Zhou Y, Liu J. Liquid metal phagocytosis: intermetallic wetting induced particle internalization. Adv Sci 2017;4(5): 1700024. link1

[18] Wang H, Yuan B, Liang S, Guo R, Rao W, Wang X, et al. PLUS-M: a porous liquid–metal enabled ubiquitous soft material. Mater Horiz 2018;5(2): 222–9. link1

[19] Zhang J, Yao Y, Sheng L, Liu J. Self-fueled biomimetic liquid metal mollusk. Adv Mater 2015;27(16):2648–55. link1

[20] Xu S, Zhao X, Liu J. Liquid metal activated aluminum–water reaction for direct hydrogen generation at room temperature. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2018;92:17–37. link1

[21] Ghasemian M, Mayyas M, Idrus-Saidi S, Jamal MA, Yang J, Mofarah SS, et al. Self-limiting galvanic growth of MnO2 monolayers on a liquid metal—applied to photocatalysis. Adv Funct Mater 2019;29(36):1901649. link1

[22] Zavabeti A, Zhang B, De Castro I, Ou JZ, Carey BJ, Mohiuddin M, et al. Green synthesis of low-dimensional aluminum oxide hydroxide and oxide using liquid metal reaction media: ultrahigh flux membranes. Adv Funct Mater 2018;28(44):1804057. link1

[23] Wang X, Guo R, Liu J. Liquid metal based soft robotics: materials, designs, and applications. Adv Mater Technol 2019;4(2):1800549. link1

[24] Huang X, Gao T, Pan X, Wei D, Lv C, Qin L, et al. A review: feasibility of hydrogen generation from the reaction between aluminum and water for fuel cell applications. J Power Sources 2013;229:133–40. link1

Related Research