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Iron-On Wearable Electronics through Liquid Metal Adhesive Composites
John Joyce1, Brittan T Wilcox1, Anna Ingram1
1Mechanical Engineering, Soft Materials and Structures Lab, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|November 9, 2025
Summary
Researchers developed stretchable liquid metal (LM) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites for e-textiles. These materials offer excellent conductivity and adhesion to fabrics, enabling advanced wearable electronics.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrical Engineering
- Textile Science
Background:
- E-textiles and wearable electronics require flexible, stretchable circuitry for diverse applications like healthcare and human-machine interfaces.
- Integrating functional components with deformable substrates such as fabrics presents a significant challenge for current technologies.
- Development of stretchable conductors and advanced processing techniques is crucial for enabling these emerging electronic devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To create novel composites of liquid metal (LM) microdroplets within a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) matrix.
- To develop stretchable, adhesive, and electrically conductive materials for seamless integration into e-textiles and wearable circuits.
- To demonstrate the reprocessing capability of the developed composites for hot melt adhesion applications.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of composites by dispersing LM microdroplets in a TPU matrix.
- Characterization of the mechanical properties, including stretchability (over 600% strain) and adhesion to fabrics (up to 6400 J m-2).
- Measurement of electrical conductivity (up to 8.0 × 105 S m-1) and assessment of reprocessing via heat transfer.
Main Results:
- The LM-TPU composites exhibited high stretchability, strong adhesion to common fabrics via heat transfer, and excellent electrical conductivity.
- The thermoplastic nature of the TPU matrix allowed for reprocessing, enabling hot melt adhesion.
- The soft conductors effectively integrated electronically and mechanically with both rigid components and fabrics.
Conclusions:
- The developed LM-TPU composites offer a promising solution for creating flexible, electrically conductive materials for e-textiles and wearable electronics.
- These composites facilitate the integration of functional components, paving the way for advanced soft circuits.
- The materials' unique properties enable robust and versatile applications in the rapidly growing field of wearable technology.
Keywords:
e-textilesfabric adhesionliquid metal compositessoft circuit integrationstretchable conductorsthermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)wearable electronicsMore Related Videos
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