On-Chip Production of Size-Controllable Liquid Metal Microdroplets Using Acoustic Waves
On-Chip Production of Size-Controllable Liquid Metal Microdroplets Using Acoustic Waves
Micro- to nanosized droplets of liquid metals, such as eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) and Galinstan, have been used for developing a variety of applications in flexible electronics, sensors, catalysts, and drug delivery systems. Currently used methods for producing micro- to nanosized droplets of such liquid metals possess one or several drawbacks, including the lack in ability to control the size of the produced droplets, mass produce droplets, produce smaller droplet sizes, and miniaturize the system. Here, a novel method is introduced using acoustic wave-induced forces for on-chip production of EGaIn liquid-metal microdroplets with controllable size. The size distribution of liquid metal microdroplets is tuned by controlling the interfacial tension of the metal using either electrochemistry or electrocapillarity in the acoustic field. The developed platform is then used for heavy metal ion detection utilizing the produced liquid metal microdroplets as the working electrode. It is also demonstrated that a significant enhancement of the sensing performance is achieved by introducing acoustic streaming during the electrochemical experiments. The demonstrated technique can be used for developing liquid-metal-based systems for a wide range of applications.
acoustics, EGaIn, electrochemistry, heavy metal ion sensing, liquid metal, microdroplets
3861-3869
Tang, Shi Yang
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Ayan, Bugra
7979ac6e-9cc4-4387-8080-4744371e27e2
Nama, Nitesh
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Bian, Yusheng
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Lata, James P.
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Guo, Xiasheng
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Huang, Tony Jun
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27 July 2016
Tang, Shi Yang
1d0f15c6-2a3e-4bad-a3d8-fc267db93ed4
Ayan, Bugra
7979ac6e-9cc4-4387-8080-4744371e27e2
Nama, Nitesh
8e7e07fe-24f2-49ca-b241-36b373313f7f
Bian, Yusheng
2852500e-d92f-43af-95cd-fb888fed219f
Lata, James P.
a730bcdf-8d20-4903-bebe-506441f38953
Guo, Xiasheng
7ee3a0f0-61d0-41dc-aff4-b8ff650dd0da
Huang, Tony Jun
d380fbd6-4484-46b2-96f9-6cfec83ecae6
Tang, Shi Yang, Ayan, Bugra, Nama, Nitesh, Bian, Yusheng, Lata, James P., Guo, Xiasheng and Huang, Tony Jun
(2016)
On-Chip Production of Size-Controllable Liquid Metal Microdroplets Using Acoustic Waves.
Small, .
(doi:10.1002/smll.201600737).
Abstract
Micro- to nanosized droplets of liquid metals, such as eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) and Galinstan, have been used for developing a variety of applications in flexible electronics, sensors, catalysts, and drug delivery systems. Currently used methods for producing micro- to nanosized droplets of such liquid metals possess one or several drawbacks, including the lack in ability to control the size of the produced droplets, mass produce droplets, produce smaller droplet sizes, and miniaturize the system. Here, a novel method is introduced using acoustic wave-induced forces for on-chip production of EGaIn liquid-metal microdroplets with controllable size. The size distribution of liquid metal microdroplets is tuned by controlling the interfacial tension of the metal using either electrochemistry or electrocapillarity in the acoustic field. The developed platform is then used for heavy metal ion detection utilizing the produced liquid metal microdroplets as the working electrode. It is also demonstrated that a significant enhancement of the sensing performance is achieved by introducing acoustic streaming during the electrochemical experiments. The demonstrated technique can be used for developing liquid-metal-based systems for a wide range of applications.
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Published date: 27 July 2016
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from National Institutes of Health (GM112048 and EB019785), National Science Foundation (IIP-1534645 and IDBR-1455658), American Asthma Foundation (AAF) Scholar Award, and the Penn State Center for Nanoscale Science (MRSEC) under grant DMR-1420620. Components of this work were conducted at the Penn State node of the NSF-funded National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network. The authors also acknowledge the Research Computing and Cyberinfrastructure Unit of Information Technology Services at The Pennsylvania State University for providing advanced computing resources and services that have contributed to the research results reported in this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Keywords:
acoustics, EGaIn, electrochemistry, heavy metal ion sensing, liquid metal, microdroplets
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 481684
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/481684
ISSN: 1613-6810
PURE UUID: 09f66d9d-d74c-48b3-a53d-f777b5a8ece9
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Date deposited: 06 Sep 2023 16:48
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:13
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Contributors
Author:
Shi Yang Tang
Author:
Bugra Ayan
Author:
Nitesh Nama
Author:
Yusheng Bian
Author:
James P. Lata
Author:
Xiasheng Guo
Author:
Tony Jun Huang
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