The magical power of liquid metal: adhere without bonding agents!

Hello friends! I have super exciting news to tell you, scientists in Beijing, China have discovered a way to turn common materials like paper and plastic into true electronic “smart devices.” How did they achieve this? Well, using an incredibly simple method to apply liquid metal to surfaces. It’s like magic! We previously thought it was impossible for liquid metal to stick to surfaces that don’t get wet, but these scientists proved otherwise. It turns out that liquid metal can stick to different surfaces simply by adjusting the pressure. It’s super interesting!

Now, let’s explain a bit more how this works, liquid metal has extremely high surface tension which makes it difficult to bond with most materials, including paper, but these geniuses found a way to overcome that problem without adding more complications. Instead, they decided to rub the liquid metal onto silicone stamps and silicone polymers, then applied different forces by rubbing them onto paper surfaces. That’s right, just rubbing!

After much trial and error they managed to find the right parameters to achieve a stable and repeatable adhesion, it turns out that rubbing the liquid metal covered stamp against the paper with a small amount of force allowed the metal droplets to adhere to the surface of effective way. Who would have thought it! To further demonstrate the effectiveness of this method, they folded the metal-coated paper into a paper crane, and guess what, the surface can still be folded as usual, with no issues. It’s like having a magic paper!

Although this technique sounds incredible, they are still working on ensuring that the liquid metal coating stays in place once applied. For now, they can add a packing material to the surface to keep it from getting dirty, but they’re looking for a solution that doesn’t require that. Imagine having a paper that can be wiped clean by hand! Although, of course, we would have to be careful with objects that touch the coating, since they could get a little dirty.

In the future, the team plans to expand this method to apply liquid metal to a wider variety of surfaces, including metal and ceramic. Furthermore, they plan to build smart devices using the materials treated with this method. Soon we will be able to have everyday objects turned into high-tech gadgets! So there you have it folks, liquid metal and its incredible ability to adhere to surfaces without the need for glue or fuss. Scientists are doing wonders with their research, and who knows what new surprises the future will bring. See you next time!