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Updated: Jul 17, 2025
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Planar and Three-Dimensional Printing of Conductive Inks
Published on: December 9, 2011
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Recent progress in liquid metal printing and its applications.
Shuting Liang1,2, Jie Yang1, Fengjiao Li3
1College of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Environmental Materials & Remediation Technologies, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences Chongqing 402160 PR China stliang@cqwu.edu.cn.
RSC Advances
|September 8, 2023
Summary
Flexible liquid metal (LM) printing technologies achieve 10 nm precision with novel inks. These advancements enable diverse applications in sensors, catalysis, and advanced materials.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Flexible liquid metals (LM) offer unique properties for advanced applications.
- Recent progress in printing technologies has significantly improved LM device fabrication.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the latest printing technologies and applications of flexible liquid metals.
- To highlight advancements in LM inks and their performance enhancements.
- To explore the broad application spectrum of liquid metals in various scientific fields.
Main Methods:
- Utilized template printing, centrifugal force, pen lithography, and laser methods for high-precision LM printing.
- Developed novel liquid metal inks (e.g., PVA-LM, ethanol/PDMS/LM double emulsion) to improve properties.
- Investigated applications in sensors, catalysis, composite materials, and micro-devices.
Main Results:
- Achieved printing precision down to 10 nm.
- Enhanced ink properties including recovery, rapid printing, conductivity, and strain resistance.
- Demonstrated successful applications in biochemical, pressure, and electrochemical sensors with improved sensitivity and biostability.
- Explored LM roles in catalysis, composite material enhancement, and micro-actuators.
Conclusions:
- Liquid metals are versatile materials with rapidly advancing printing techniques and diverse applications.
- Continued research in LM inks and fabrication methods will drive innovation in sensors, materials, and micro-devices.
- This review provides a foundation for understanding LM development trends and future research directions.
