Supermetallophobic Functional Coatings Based on Silicate Clays and a Method To Pattern Liquid Metals

A convenient and easy approach to fabricate a coating capable of preventing adhesion of Ga-based liquid metal alloys (often containing a surface oxide “skin” adhering to substrates even with low surface energy) is reported in this work. By mixing silicate clays with a commercially available and inexpensive resin, a clay coating type that is nonwetting to liquid metals is prepared. The development of supermetallophobic coatings of liquid metals that can be applied in a flexible substrate could provide innovative insights into the design of a nonwetting surface of liquid metals for practical application. In addition, a multiscale and uniform liquid metal thin-film patterning method is introduced based on nonwetting properties. By combining conductive patterns fabricated using this technique with electronic component integration, various functional soft circuits are demonstrated that included (i) soft light-emitting diodes, (ii) a high-conversion frequency–temperature-sensing platform, and (iii) a soft double-deck composite function circuit. Fabrication and incorporation methods demonstrated in this work can be used in dense and multifunctional soft microsystems for various functional circuit applications. This clay coating enables fast patterning of liquid metals, which, in turn, provides low cost and rapid fabrication of a variety of liquid-metal-conductive trace devices.