Mussel-Inspired Multifunctional Integrated Liquid Metal-Based Magnetic Suspensions with Rheological, Magnetic, Electrical, and Thermal Reinforcement

Abstract

Magnetic liquid metal is regarded as a promising material due to its integration of fluidic, metallic, and magnetic properties simultaneously. Previously, few methods of fabricating magnetic liquid metal have been proposed. However, either the alloying reaction inside the matrix or the poor performance in electrical and thermal conduction is troublesome in practical applications. Here, inspired by the mussel in nature, polydopamine is introduced to in situ reduce and immobilize silver shells on the surface of iron particles, and then the modified particles mix with liquid metal to prepare liquid metal-based magnetic suspensions (LMMSs). The silver shells can prevent iron particles from alloying with liquid metal and enhance the electrical and thermal conductivities of the LMMS concurrently. Besides, the LMMS thus obtained can keep its magnetism intact for a long period, at least during the 60 days of the test. Compared to directly mixing bare iron particles with liquid metal, the maximum electrical conductivities increase by at least 13.69% and the thermal conductivities increase by almost 4 times in the LMMS. The LMMS also exhibits potential applications in patterning and magnetic manipulation. This work puts forward a new strategy for preparing a LMMS with appealing properties and its broad applications are expected in the future.

Liquid Metal Composites with Enhanced Thermal Conductivity and Stability Using Molecular Thermal Linker

“…The approach of adding solid particles into liquid metal has been used in many works for thermal management applications. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Wang et al incorporated the diamond particles into liquid metal by direct mixing and achieved a thermal conductivity of > 100 W m −1 K −1 in both parallel and perpendicular directions. The huge average diameter of 250 um in particle size, however, impedes its application as effective TIM.…”

“…The coating process, however, is relatively complex. [ 16 ] The mixing of highly thermal conductive metallic fillers, such as silver and copper, with the liquid metal matrix, also helps increase the thermal conductivity of liquid metal composites. For instance, copper particles mixed with eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn; 75% Ga; 25% In) in NaOH solution achieved a thermal conductivity of 50 W m −1 K −1 .…”

“…[13] Copper nanoparticles incorporated into GaInSn (66% Ga; 22%In; 16%Sn) via an oxide-free ultrasonic-assisted internalization process in HCl solution reached a high κ of 64.8 W m −1 K −1 . [14] In these efforts involving mixing Ga-based liquid metal with fillers of high thermal conductivity, gallium, however, can react with many metals such as copper, [20,21] silver, [22] aluminum, [23] and iron, [16] to form intermetallic compounds (IMCs) due to its reactive nature. For example, in the eutectic gallium indium-copper (EGaIn-Cu) composite system, the reaction between copper and gallium produces CuGa 2 IMCs.…”

Liquid Metal Printed Optoelectronics Toward Fast Fabrication of Customized and Erasable Patterned Displays

“…Various metal particles have been reported as additions for LM to modify its fluidity. [ 9a,12c,20 ] Table S1, Supporting Information, compares several metal particles in terms of cost, electrical conductivity and compatibility. Obviously, Cu particles have lower cost, higher electrical conductivity, and better compatibility with LM (forming intermetallic compound CuGa 2 ).…”

Electroless Metallization of the Elements: Survey and Progress

“…Consequently, such PDA films exhibit a rougher surface morphology that, together with the nonselective nature of the deposition process, has limited its applications as a film for patterned EL processes. Nevertheless, a significant number of EL metal-substrate composites not requiring patterning have been described using PDA during the past decade. ,,,,,,,,,,− …”