Abstract
Liquid metals are ideally suited for flexible and wearable electronics due to their compatibility with additive manufacturing and high electrical conductivity that is maintained following mechanical perturbation. While printing of eutectic gallium–indium (eGaIn) liquid metal nanoparticles has been demonstrated, previous techniques for activating electrical conductivity in the as-printed insulating eGaIn nanoparticles limit throughput in roll-to-roll manufacturing processes. Here, ultrafast photonic sintering of eGaIn nanoparticles is demonstrated, which is further enhanced through the use of nitrocellulose as a carrier polymer that undergoes optically triggered combustion to produce eGaIn thin films with electrical conductivities exceeding 104 S cm–1. This combustion-assisted photonic sintering (CAPS) is two orders of magnitude faster than previously demonstrated noncontact sintering techniques. By circumventing the established tradeoff between electrical conductivity and activation speed, CAPS will facilitate the use of eGaIn liquid metal nanoparticles in high-throughput additive manufacturing of flexible and wearable electronics, sensors, and related technologies.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2101178 |
| Journal | Advanced Materials Technologies |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2022 |
Funding
This work was supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory under agreement number FA8650‐15‐2‐5518. This work made use of the MatCI Facility that is supported by the MRSEC program of the National Science Foundation (DMR‐1720139) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University. In addition, this work made use of the NUFAB facility of the Northwestern University NUANCE Center, which has received support from the SHyNE Resource (NSF ECCS‐2025633), the IIN, and the Northwestern MRSEC program (NSF DMR‐1720139). The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the sponsors.
Keywords
- eGaIn
- eutectic gallium-indium alloy
- flexible electronics
- intense pulsed light
- photonic sintering
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- Mechanics of Materials
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
