Thermal elastomer composites for soft transducers

Thermal elastomer composites (TECs) that are electrically insulating have potential usage in soft transducers targeting thermal sensors and actuators, or thermoelectric generators. In this work, such a TEC is prepared by dispersing droplets of a gallium based liquid alloy (Galinstan) into a polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) base matrix. The results indicate that the TEC is highly elastic and shows an up to three-fold increase in thermal conductivity from that of PDMS. A thermoelectric device with the TEC packaging is demonstrated with a higher efficiency than that with pristine PDMS packaging.