Magnetically- and Electrically-Controllable Functional Liquid Metal Droplets
Magnetically- and Electrically-Controllable Functional Liquid Metal Droplets
Gallium-based room temperature liquid metal alloys have recently been explored to be an emerging functional material. They have attracted particular attentions in a variety of applications due to their unique properties. Many of the applications are based on the precise control over the motion of liquid metal, and yet, the fact that currently lacking the advanced and reliable controlling methods greatly hinders the potential of liquid metal to be applied in a wider range of fields. In this study, an innovative approach is developed to obtain functional liquid metal (FLM) by modifying it with copper–iron magnetic nanoparticles (Cu–Fe NPs). The magnetic modification process enables the Cu–Fe NPs to be suspended within the liquid metal and form the FLM. The FLM exhibits similar appearance, actuating behaviors, and deformability in alkaline solutions to those of pure liquid metal alloys. Meanwhile, the magnetic modification enables the precise and rapid manipulation of the liquid metal using a magnetic field. Most importantly, for the first time, the precise control and climbing locomotion of the FLM is demonstrated with the interworking of both electric and magnetic fields simultaneously. The remarkable features of the FLM may represent vast potentials toward the development of future intelligent soft robots.
field-responsive material, functional materials, galinstan, liquid metals, locomotion
Li, Fangxia
a3d24e25-2342-4b61-92f7-6afc1ae815ce
Kuang, Shaolong
9661f7da-26f6-4d10-85ef-8e0d1204548b
Li, Xiangpeng
73f32905-ad7c-4ce3-93a4-78237b98f4fb
Shu, Jian
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Li, Weihua
e2555036-0e48-425a-afeb-db6ffba5238e
Tang, Shi Yang
1d0f15c6-2a3e-4bad-a3d8-fc267db93ed4
Zhang, Shiwu
da008f91-71fa-42fb-879e-68b91429e1d6
March 2019
Li, Fangxia
a3d24e25-2342-4b61-92f7-6afc1ae815ce
Kuang, Shaolong
9661f7da-26f6-4d10-85ef-8e0d1204548b
Li, Xiangpeng
73f32905-ad7c-4ce3-93a4-78237b98f4fb
Shu, Jian
10c82f94-8f99-4785-b33f-fa20484344fd
Li, Weihua
e2555036-0e48-425a-afeb-db6ffba5238e
Tang, Shi Yang
1d0f15c6-2a3e-4bad-a3d8-fc267db93ed4
Zhang, Shiwu
da008f91-71fa-42fb-879e-68b91429e1d6
Li, Fangxia, Kuang, Shaolong, Li, Xiangpeng, Shu, Jian, Li, Weihua, Tang, Shi Yang and Zhang, Shiwu
(2019)
Magnetically- and Electrically-Controllable Functional Liquid Metal Droplets.
Advanced Materials Technologies, 4 (3), [1800694].
(doi:10.1002/admt.201800694).
Abstract
Gallium-based room temperature liquid metal alloys have recently been explored to be an emerging functional material. They have attracted particular attentions in a variety of applications due to their unique properties. Many of the applications are based on the precise control over the motion of liquid metal, and yet, the fact that currently lacking the advanced and reliable controlling methods greatly hinders the potential of liquid metal to be applied in a wider range of fields. In this study, an innovative approach is developed to obtain functional liquid metal (FLM) by modifying it with copper–iron magnetic nanoparticles (Cu–Fe NPs). The magnetic modification process enables the Cu–Fe NPs to be suspended within the liquid metal and form the FLM. The FLM exhibits similar appearance, actuating behaviors, and deformability in alkaline solutions to those of pure liquid metal alloys. Meanwhile, the magnetic modification enables the precise and rapid manipulation of the liquid metal using a magnetic field. Most importantly, for the first time, the precise control and climbing locomotion of the FLM is demonstrated with the interworking of both electric and magnetic fields simultaneously. The remarkable features of the FLM may represent vast potentials toward the development of future intelligent soft robots.
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Published date: March 2019
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
F.L. and S.K. contributed equally to this work. This work was supported in part by grants from NSFC under Grant Nos. 61503270, 51828503, 61873339, a grant from National Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province under Grant No. BK20150326, a grant from National Science Found for Colleges and Universities of Jiangsu Province under Grant No. 15KJB510029, a grant from China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grant No. 2016M590497, and supported by the State Key Laboratory of Applied Optics. Dr. Shi-Yang Tang is the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellowship funded by the University of Wollongong.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Keywords:
field-responsive material, functional materials, galinstan, liquid metals, locomotion
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 481714
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/481714
ISSN: 2365-709X
PURE UUID: 052e8c99-10fd-4cbf-901f-bfeb55d27104
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Date deposited: 06 Sep 2023 16:50
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:18
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Contributors
Author:
Fangxia Li
Author:
Shaolong Kuang
Author:
Xiangpeng Li
Author:
Jian Shu
Author:
Weihua Li
Author:
Shi Yang Tang
Author:
Shiwu Zhang
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