Liquid Metal-Based Elastomer Composite with Selective Switchable Adhesion to Solids

Selective switchable adhesion has recently attracted much attention due to its wide applications in transfer printing, information transfer, and flexible electronics. However, selective adhesive materials often have a complex adhesion or preparation process, which limits their use. To overcome this problem, this study prepares a composite of liquid metal foam and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with selective photocontrolled adhesion, which can directly adhere to solids at room temperature. Utilizing the photoinduced phase transition of liquid metals, solid adhesion can be regulated by changing the backing layer modulus of the adhesive layer. Since the phase transition process is gradually completed by heat transfer from the illuminated side to the backlight side that adheres to the solid, the melting area on the backlight side can be regulated by controlling the light time, which determines the adhesion regulation area. Therefore, the accuracy of the adhesion regulation can reach less than 0.9 mm without relying on the accuracy of the infrared light. Moreover, based on the selective switchable adhesion, the selective transfer of solids with different scales can be achieved at room temperature. The findings of this study may provide strategies for the simple preparation of selective adhesive materials and the improvement of control accuracy.