Metalgel Fiber with Excellent Electrical and Mechanical Properties

With the rapid advancement of soft electronics, particularly the rise of fiber electronics and smart textiles, there is an urgent need to develop high-performance fiber materials with both excellent electrical and mechanical properties. However, existing fiber materials including metal fibers, carbon-based fibers, intrinsically conductive polymer fibers, and composite fibers struggle to simultaneously meet the requirements. Here, we introduce a metalgel fiber with a unique structure. In metalgel fibers, liquid metal forms a continuum, extending throughout the entire volume of nanostructured fucoidan polymer networks, which are immobilized by electrostatic interactions. The distinctive structure imparts the fiber with metallic conductivity (2.8 × 10⁶ S·m^-1), softness (Young's modulus of 1.8 MPa), and stable electromechanical coupling properties (resistance change <5% after 20,000 times pressing, stretching, bending, and twisting cycles). The metalgel fibers were woven into multifunctional smart textiles, highlighting their potential for practical applications.