Controllable Liquid Metal Microparticles Production and Patterning by Miniaturized Filter-Sieve Generators
Qingtian Zhang1, Hongda Lu1, Yipu Guo1
1Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
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Liquid metal microparticles (LMMPs) with excellent conductivity and reactivity hold significant promise for applications in flexible electronics and sensors. However, current LMMP production methods face critical challenges, including achieving smaller particle sizes with low energy consumption, streamlining processes, and enhancing productivity. Herein, leveraging the tunable surface tension of LM droplets, a compact platform called the miniaturized filter-sieve generator (MFSG) is presented, for scalable, energy-efficient, and controllable LMMP production. The MFSG demonstrates high energy efficiency (average power consumption of 0.21 W) and productivity (6.51 × 105 particles per minute) while enabling precise control of microparticle sizes (2-300 µm). Furthermore, the MFSG can uniformly produce LMMPs with varied compositions. Harnessing these capabilities, a reconfigurable platform integrating the MFSG is developed to enable complex droplet patterning and an LMMP-based humidity sensor with high sensitivity. This innovative platform for on-demand LMMP production with low energy consumption will drive significant advancements in electronic devices and sensing systems.
