Ultra-conformable Liquid Metal Particle Monolayer on Air/water Interface for Substrate-free E-tattoo
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Gallium-based liquid metal is getting increased attention in conformal flexible electronics for its high electrical conductivity, intrinsic deformability and biocompatibility. A series of flexible devices are developed based on the micro-particles of liquid metal. But it is still challenging to fabricate conformal liquid metal film with a large area and high uniformity. Interfacial self-assembly is a competitive candidate method. Traditional interfacial self-assembly methods have difficulties assembling liquid metal particles because the floating state of the high-density microparticles could be easily disturbed by gravity. Here, we realized the multi-size universal self-assembly (MUS) for liquid metal particles with various diameters (0 500μm). By introducing a simple z-axis undisturbed interfacial material releasing strategy, the interference of gravitational energy on the stability of floating particles is avoided. Benefits from this, the ultra-conformable monolayer film, with large area (>100 cm2) and high floating yield (50 can be fabricated by liquid metal particles. Furthermore, the monolayer can be conformally transferred to any interesting complex surface such as human skin and plant leaf, to fabricate substrate-free flexible devices. Without interference from the mechanical response of traditional substrate, the liquid metal e-tattoo is more user-friendly and can realize feel-less continuous monitoring.
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