Next-generation soft robots, wearable health monitoring devices, and human-machine interfaces require electronic systems that can maintain their performance under deformations. Thus, researchers have been developing materials and methods to enable high-performance soft electronic systems in diverse applications. While a variety of solutions have been presented, development of stretchable materials with a combination of high stretchability, electrical conductivity, cyclic stability, and manufacturability is still an open challenge. Throughout this dissertation, gallium-based<br>liquid metal alloy is used as the conductive material, leveraging its high conductivity and intrinsic stretchability for maintained performance under deformations. This dissertation presents both new liquid metal-based conductive materials and scalable manufacturing methods for the development of a diverse range of flexible and stretchable electronic circuits. First, a laser sintering method was developed to coalesce liquid metal micro/nanoparticles into soft, conductive structures enabled by oxide rupturing. The fast, non-contact, and maskless laser sintering technique, in combination with large-area spray-printing deposition, and high-throughput emulsion processing, provided a methodology to create different physical manifestations of liquid metal-based soft, stretchable, and reconfigurable electronics. Second, a liquid metal-based biphasic material was created using a thermal processing technique, yielding a printable, mechanically stable, and extremely stretchable conductor. This material’s compatibility with existing scalable manufacturing methods, robust interfaces with off-the-shelf electronic components, and electrical/mechanical cyclic stability enabled direct conversion of established circuit board assemblies to stretchable forms. The
work presented in this dissertation paves the way for future mass-manufacturing of<br>soft, stretchable circuits for direct integration into smart garments or soft robots. <br>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/12735221 |
| Date | 16 December 2020 |
| Creators | Shanliangzi Liu (9182996) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Scalable_Manufacturing_of_Liquid_Metal_for_Soft_and_Stretchable_Electronics/12735221 |
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