Virginia Tech lab 3D prints a liquid metal composite to guide heat, boost thermal conductivity 40x
Virginia Tech lab prints gallium-indium liquid metal droplets in silicone that guide heat.
In a Virginia Tech lab, researchers have developed a liquid metal composite that can guide heat with a 40 times greater thermal conductivity than regular silicone. Graduate student Hugh Grennan mixed eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) into uncured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicone, creating a liquid metal composite at room temperature.
The composite is cast into a slab, pressed with a line to guide an LED, and then printed using a syringe-fed printer. The droplets of metal within the composite have soft elasticity, extreme toughness, and autonomously self-healing electrical circuits. After baking, the silicone turns solid, but the metal droplets remain liquid.
The droplets are around 10 to 100 microns in diameter and their shape is determined by the printer's settings. The oxide skin on each droplet plays a critical role in maintaining their shape and conductivity. In demonstrations, Grennan showed the printed composite could conduct heat along its length, allowing an LED to light up when the droplets were merged into a continuous conductive track.
Cutting across the track allowed the LED to light up again, proving the liquid metal can autonomously reconfigure and retain its shape. The lab's research indicates potential applications in heat spreaders, flexible device wires, and wearable devices, with market analysis predicting continued growth in the wearables market.
Written by urgent.news from Tom's Hardware's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
