Small universal mechanical module driven by a liquid metal droplet

Abstract

The Gallium-based liquid metal droplet (LMD) from the micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) has gained much attention due to its precise and sensitive controllability under an electric field. Considerable research progress has...

Liquid Metal Smart Materials toward Soft Robotics

“…Accordingly, they developed a tripodal‐wheeled robot driven by liquid metal droplets. [ 166 ] Similarly, Xue et al [ 167 ] proposed a small universal mechanical module driven by a liquid metal droplet placed in an electric field for circulating pumping (Figure 12e). More practically, such electric‐field‐driven motors were further developed to drive vehicles [ 92 ] (Figure 12f).…”

“…Reproduced with permission. [ 167 ] Copyright 2021, Royal Society of Chemistry. f) Vehicles based on a liquid metal motor.…”

“…e) Circulating pumping driven by a liquid metal droplet. Reproduced with permission [167]. Copyright 2021, Royal Society of Chemistry.…”

Desktop-level small automatic guided vehicle driven by a liquid metal droplet

“…Gallium-based LMs, such as eutectic gallium indium alloy (EGaIn, 75.5 wt% gallium and 24.5 wt% indium) and Galinstan (68.5 wt% gallium, 21.5 wt% indium, and 10 wt% tin), are a new kind of intelligent material that combines the characteristics of metals and fluids, such as excellent thermal conductivity, 9 electrical conductivity, 10–12 fluidity, 13 biocompatibility, 14 and low toxicity. 15 The LM applications in flexible robots, 16,17 flexible electronics, 18,19 micromotors, 20,21 neural probes, 22 drug delivery, 23–25 chip cooling, 26 3D printing, 27–29 liquid metal pumps 30 and other fields 31–34 have attracted much attention. In addition, LM droplets can move under the action of ultrasound, 35 optical, 36,37 electrical, 38,39 magnetic, 40–42 and chemical mechanisms, 20 which makes LMs have great applications in microfluidics and robotics.…”

Liquid metal droplet motion transferred from an alkaline solution by a robot arm

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] As emerging soft materials, gallium-based liquid metal alloys, such as eutectic EGaIn (75.5 wt% gallium and 24.5 wt% indium), have demonstrated enormous potential for developing high-performance smallscale devices in many important fields. [7][8][9][10][11] They have many unique physicochemical properties, such as high interface tension, 12 excellent thermal/electrical conductivity, [13][14][15][16][17] extreme flexibility, 4,18-20 low vapor pressure, 21 biocompatibility, 22 and low toxicity. 23,24 In addition, liquid metals (LMs) can be actuated under the methods of magnetic, 25,26 ultrasound, 20 optical, 27 and each method has its advantages in different applications.…”