Mechanochemically Activatable Liquid Metal Powders for Sustainable, Reconfigurable, and Versatile Electronics

https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202527396Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Abstract

While liquid metals possess exceptional electrical conductivity, their integration into stretchable and recyclable electronics remains constrained. High surface tension causes poor adhesion and uncontrolled spreading, and current processing methods often lack scalability or recyclability, limiting broader adoption in soft robotics, wearable healthcare, and sustainable systems. Here, a class of mechanochemically activatable liquid metal powders (MALMPs) is introduced that decouple conductivity from fluidity, enabling ambient stable, recyclable, and user-defined soft circuits. Sonication dispersion of eutectic gallium–indium in carbonyl-rich solvents yields core–shell particles with oxide-stabilized surfaces. These powders remain electrically inert under ambient conditions but can be locally activated by mechanical pressure, which ruptures the shell to restore conductivity. This mechanism allows dry-state patterning on a wide range of substrates, including flexible, stretchable, and biological surfaces, followed by localized fluidization upon mechanical activation to induce conductivity. MALMPs maintain stable conductivity under >10 000 stretching cycles and 700% strain and can be fully recycled via mild sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment. Demonstrations across transient and reconfigurable circuits, human–machine interfaces, and skin-conformal systems highlight the versatility and scalability of the platform for next-generation electronics.