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Breakup-Free and Colorful Liquid Metal Thin Films via Electrochemical Oxidation
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    Biological and Medical Applications of Materials and Interfaces

    Breakup-Free and Colorful Liquid Metal Thin Films via Electrochemical Oxidation
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    • Yi Chen
      Yi Chen
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
      More by Yi Chen
    • Biao Ma*
      Biao Ma
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
      *E-mail: [email protected]
      More by Biao Ma
    • Gangsheng Chen
      Gangsheng Chen
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
    • Jin Zhang
      Jin Zhang
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
      More by Jin Zhang
    • Dezhi Feng
      Dezhi Feng
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
      More by Dezhi Feng
    • Wei Tian
      Wei Tian
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
      More by Wei Tian
    • Taiming Zhang
      Taiming Zhang
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
    • Chao Zhao
      Chao Zhao
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
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    • Fei Rong
      Fei Rong
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
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    • Hong Liu*
      Hong Liu
      State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
      *E-mail: [email protected]
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    Other Access OptionsSupporting Information (4)

    ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

    Cite this: ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2023, 15, 44, 50898–50907
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    https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c11966
    Published October 24, 2023
    Copyright © 2023 American Chemical Society

    Abstract

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    Thin-film metal conductors featuring high conductivity and stretchability are basic building blocks for high-performance conformable electronics. Gallium-based liquid metals are attractive candidates for thin-film conductors due to their intrinsic stretchability and ease of processing. Moreover, the phase change nature of liquid metal provides an opportunity to create conformal electronics in a substrate-free manner. However, thin liquid metal films tend to break during the solid-to-liquid transition due to the high surface tension of liquid metal. Here, we created breakup-free liquid metal thin films by the electrochemical oxidation of solid gallium films. We show that electrochemical oxidation can enhance the mechanical strength of the gallium oxide layer and its interfacial adhesion to the gallium core. When heated to the liquid state, the oxidized gallium films can maintain their structural integrity on various solid substrates, hydrogels, and even the water surface. The solid–liquid phase change-induced stiffness decrease allowed the gallium films to be conformably attached to various nonplanar surfaces upon heating or water transfer printing. Moreover, we also found that enhanced electrochemical oxidation can result in the formation of structure color due to nanoporous structures on the film surface. We also demonstrate the applications of oxidized liquid metal films in functional electronics, electrophysiological monitoring, and tattoo art.

    Copyright © 2023 American Chemical Society

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    Supporting Information

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    The Supporting Information is available free of charge at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.3c11966.

    • Fabrication process of solid gallium thin film, cross-sectional view of the solid gallium thin film, thickness of the film under a high pressure without a space, gallium thin film embedded in elastomer before and after heating, photograph of the oxidized large-area gallium film, electric conductivities of the films with different oxidation times, XPS O 1s spectrum of the solid gallium thin film with oxidation for 2 min, stress as a function of displacement for the gallium bulk immersed in hydrochloric acid solution, thickness of the films with different oxidation degrees, shrinkage states of the gallium thin films under different conditions, tape-peeling test for double-surface oxidized gallium thin films, theoretical analysis of the wrinkles, unoxidized and oxidized films on the warm water surface, LED circuit, reflectance spectra of the oxidized film, breakup-free single-surface oxidized LM films (PDF)

    • Movie S1 showing the comparison of the unoxidized and oxidized patterns when transferred to the warm water surface (MP4)

    • Movie S2 showing the surface color change of the gallium thin film during the electrochemical oxidation (MP4)

    • Movie S3 showing electrical stimulation of the flytrap lobe (MP4)

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    ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

    Cite this: ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2023, 15, 44, 50898–50907
    Click to copy citationCitation copied!
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c11966
    Published October 24, 2023
    Copyright © 2023 American Chemical Society

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