Soft-matter electronics and multifunctional materials with polydisperse liquid metal suspensions: Material architecture, principles, and applications to programmable matter

Soft elastomers embedded with a polydisperse suspension of liquid metal (LM) droplets exhibit a unique and extraordinary combination of electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. Eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) LM alloy is used for the dispersion phase on account of its low viscosity, negligible toxicity, and ability to form an emulsion with liquid polymer. Because the alloy is liquid at room temperature, it can alter the electrical and thermal properties of the composite - giving it metal-like bulk features - while preserving the mechanics of the elastomer matrix. These soft multifunctional materials can function as stretchable circuit wiring, high-k dielectric insulators, or heat dissipating films in a broad range of emerging “soft-matter” technologies. In particular, we look at applications to physically-reconfigurable system capable of reversible shape change.