Liquid phase 3D printing for quickly manufacturing conductive metal objects with low melting point alloy ink

Wang, Lei; Jing, Liu

doi:10.1007/s11431-014-5583-4

Cited by 100 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The continuous nature of freeze-printing also offers a critical novelty in regards to metal printing in general. Compared to previous studies where the metals are printed in a droplet-bydroplet fashion, [36,38] freeze-printing can generate nonvertical and freely suspending structures with a continuous morphology without the need of a support material.…”

Section: Wileyonlinelibrarycommentioning

confidence: 99%

Freeze‐Printing of Liquid Metal Alloys for Manufacturing of 3D, Conductive, and Flexible Networks

Gannarapu

Gozen

2016

Adv Materials Technologies

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liquid metal alloys including injection of liquid metals into elastomeric channel networks, [10][11][12][13][14] freeze-casting, [15] surface patterning using lithographic techniques, [16][17][18][19] laser engraving, [20] or additive approaches including flow-based direct-writing, [21,22] droplet-by-droplet deposition, [23] heated roller-pen printing, [24,25] ink-jetting, [26] deposition at microscale in the nanoparticle ink form, followed by sintering, [27] or combination of direct-writing and transfer printing. [28] These methods have been utilized to realize various flexible electronic components including interconnects, [10,29] passive circuitry, [11] diodes and memristors, [30,31] antennas for wireless communication, [21,32,33] and wearable force and pressure sensors. [12,34] Despite their demonstrated success, the 3D geometric capability of these methods is still limited. The geometric capability of the injection and lithography is determined by that of the 2D methods used to fabricate the elastomeric channel networks, stencils or stamps. The additive manufacturing methods provide a higher level of geometric capability, however, still are mostly limited to 2D planar designs since the liquid metal cannot maintain its mechanical stability as complex 3D structures. Using these methods, obtaining a limited range of 3D designs still require a number of rigorous process steps including molding, metal injection and vacuuming, as well as layer bonding. In a recent study, Ladd et al. showed that the moldability of liquid metal alloys can be utilized to form vertically extended structures in mm-level sizes, [22] demonstrating the promise for true 3D-printing using liquid metals. However, as also demonstrated in this work, the structural stability of the oxide skin is not sufficient to form complex 3D networks of liquid metal alloys in practical size scales. A number of recent studies combined liquid metal and elastomer printing to build multilayer planar networks of liquid metals where the printed elastomer essentially used as the support material. [35][36][37] Even though these studies improved the geometric capability of additive manufacturing of EGaIn networks, printing of EGaIn along truly 3D paths in a continuous fashion has not been realized. Realization of such a printing method will enable high-density 3D interconnect networks, antennae, and passive circuitry for flexible electronics with substantially increased design complexity.In this paper, we present the freeze-printing method to address this need. This method is schematically described in Figure 1a-d. Here, the liquid metal alloy, EGaIn is dispensed from a nozzle on a substrate, the temperature of which is kept below the melting point of the alloy. As the nozzle is translated in 3D, more liquid is added to the printed structure along the translation path and maintains its cylindrical shape owing to the spontaneous formation and deformation of the oxide skin. In the meantime, the printed structure starts freezing from the substrate generating a moving f...

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Section: Wileyonlinelibrarycommentioning

confidence: 99%

Freeze‐Printing of Liquid Metal Alloys for Manufacturing of 3D, Conductive, and Flexible Networks

Gannarapu

Gozen

2016

Adv Materials Technologies

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“…And then heat conduction is analyzed by Ansys workbench. The main materials of the nozzle assembly includes aluminium alloy, brass, stainless steel [5]. In this paper, PLA material is selected for printing models.…”

Section: Simulation Analysis Of the Nozzle Assemblymentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization Design of Printing Nozzle for a Delta 3d Printer

Wang¹,

Hong-jie²,

Gong³

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the 3rd Annual International Conference on Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering (MME 2016)

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Abstract. Delta 3D printer is a kind of 3D printer with parallel structure. It is easy to print and has wide adaptability. However, the complex installation, plugging of print head, surface quality of printed parts and quality of printing head limits the development of its application. This paper analyzes the thermodynamic characteristics of the nozzle by using Ansys Workbench. With simulation results, the printing nozzle and head is redesigned and tested. The results show that the installation of print head is more convenient and the printing quality is improved after optimization.

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“…[6] The liquid metals retain their liquid states for all these deformation phenomena at room temperature. [18][19][20][21] It has been reported that by using a uniform electric field, the liquid gallium can be deformed into a uniform and flat shape, and then freeze below the melting temperature of gallium, enabling gallium to be used as a reconfigurable optical reflector. This reversible deformation capability makes room temperature liquid metal potentially useful for soft robotics, [7][8][9] microfluidic applications, [10][11][12] and stretchable soft electronics.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This reversible deformation capability makes room temperature liquid metal potentially useful for soft robotics, [7][8][9] microfluidic applications, [10][11][12] and stretchable soft electronics. [18][19][20][21] It has been reported that by using a uniform electric field, the liquid gallium can be deformed into a uniform and flat shape, and then freeze below the melting temperature of gallium, enabling gallium to be used as a reconfigurable optical reflector. Various properties of liquids can be changed sharply in the supercooling state, such as the isobaric heat capacity [16] and isothermal compressibility [17] in liquid water.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous Fast Deformation and Solidification in Supercooled Liquid Gallium at Room Temperature

Chen

Yun

et al. 2017

Adv Eng Mater

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The authors demonstrate that it is possible to transform a supercooled liquid metal at room temperature into a variety of shapes in solids by combined liquid metal deformation and induced crystallization from the supercooling state. The authors discover that both reversible deformation and irreversible deformation can be achieved simultaneously for supercooled liquid gallium in alkaline or acid electrolytes by using electrodes that are non-wetted or wetted with liquid gallium, respectively. Our findings on the simultaneous deformation and solidification offer a novel approach to controlled patterning and solidification of supercooled liquid gallium at room temperature.Controlling the shape of liquid metals is still a big challenge. [1][2][3][4] Giant deformation at room temperature in liquid metals such as gallium and gallium alloys is caused by significant reduction of the surface tension of liquid metals due to the formation of oxide on the liquid metal surface under application of voltage. The giant deformation capability can lead to an enhanced capillary effect in thin tubes, [5] migration of liquid metal droplets on a solid surface, and significant shrinkage of liquid metal footprint area. [6] The liquid metals retain their liquid states for all these deformation phenomena at room temperature. The deformation from a liquid droplet can be reversible, i.e., the liquid metal can return to its initial spherical shape after the voltage is switched off. This reversible deformation capability makes room temperature liquid metal potentially useful for soft robotics, [7][8][9] microfluidic applications, [10][11][12] and stretchable soft electronics. [13][14][15] The supercooling effect is the process by which the temperature of a liquid falls below the freezing point, but there is no transition to its solid state. Various properties of liquids can be changed sharply in the supercooling state, such as the isobaric heat capacity [16] and isothermal compressibility [17] in liquid water. The phase change between solid and liquid have been widely studied in various type of materials by changing temperatures. [18][19][20][21] It has been reported that by using a uniform electric field, the liquid gallium can be deformed into a uniform and flat shape, and then freeze below the melting temperature of gallium, enabling gallium to be used as a reconfigurable optical reflector. [19] Gallium is a rare near-room-temperature liquid metal with many unique properties. Liquid metal gallium possesses remarkable properties, such as high electrical conductivity, high thermal conductivity, high surface tension, extremely low vapor pressure, and low toxicity. The melting point of gallium is 29.8 C, [22] and it can stay in the liquid state (supercooling state), when the temperature is reduced to an extraordinary degree (À28.2 C). [23] Therefore, it is more convenient to manipulate gallium in its supercooled state at room temperature.In this Communication, we propose a method to transform liquid metals from the liquid to the solid state and...

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Liquid phase 3D printing for quickly manufacturing conductive metal objects with low melting point alloy ink

Cited by 100 publications

References 26 publications

Freeze‐Printing of Liquid Metal Alloys for Manufacturing of 3D, Conductive, and Flexible Networks

Freeze‐Printing of Liquid Metal Alloys for Manufacturing of 3D, Conductive, and Flexible Networks

Optimization Design of Printing Nozzle for a Delta 3d Printer

Simultaneous Fast Deformation and Solidification in Supercooled Liquid Gallium at Room Temperature

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