title: Emerging applications of liquid metals featuring surface oxides.
abstract: Gallium and several of its alloys are liquid metals at or near room temperature. Gallium has low toxicity, essentially no vapor pressure, and a low viscosity. Despite these desirable properties, applications calling for liquid metal often use toxic mercury because gallium forms a thin oxide layer on its surface. The oxide interferes with electrochemical measurements, alters the physicochemical properties of the surface, and changes the fluid dynamic behavior of the metal in a way that has, until recently, been considered a nuisance. Here, we show that this solid oxide "skin" enables many new applications for liquid metals including soft electrodes and sensors, functional microcomponents for microfluidic devices, self-healing circuits, shape-reconfigurable conductors, and stretchable antennas, wires, and interconnects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Dickey
keywords: EGaIn; gallium; gallium oxide; liquid metal; soft electronics; stretchable electronics