Zhang Jiuyang, Professor of Southeast University, has made new achievements in the field of liquid metal polymer gel research.

Recently, the research group of Zhang Jiuyang, Professor of chemistry and chemical engineering, Southeast University has made new progress in the field of liquid metal gel research Using the fluidity of liquid metal and its catalytic activity to free radicals, the research team successfully prepared a liquid metal polymer gel functional material, which has excellent elasticity and can be used as a new force sensor Liquid metal is a kind of low melting point metal or alloy, which can form liquid eutectic at room temperature Considering that liquid metal has the properties of both fluid and metal conductor, liquid metal can be used as functional flow filler to realize the coexistence of flexibility and high conductivity of polymer functional materials, so that such materials can be used as potential electronic flexible devices Previously, it was reported that the microchannel was prepared in advance by photolithography, and then liquid metal was injected into the microchannel to make resistance and capacitance sensors However, this method costs a lot and is only based on the deformation of the micro channel, which limits the mechanical properties and electrical induction ability of the material The scientific research team successfully produced liquid metal hydrogel functional materials in 20 seconds by using liquid metal as a mobile conductive filler and using its catalytic function on free radicals Different from the previous microchannel mode of liquid metal sensor, due to the anchoring effect between the oxide layer on the surface of liquid metal and the polar group of monomer, the research team realized the uniform dispersion of liquid metal in the system, and found the catalytic activity of the reaction between liquid metal and peroxide initiator Due to the fluid properties and high conductivity of liquid metal, the material is endowed with super long tensile properties, good mechanical and electrical stability In addition, due to the asymmetric deformation of the liquid metal in the material, the material can identify the movement direction of the object on its surface, and can identify the personal electronic signature and the potential electronic skin The research results were published on materials horizons under the title of "ultra stretchable hydraulics with reactive liquid metals as asymmetricforce sensors" (DOI: 10.1039 / c8mh01561a) The first author of the thesis is Peng Hao, a postgraduate student, and the corresponding author is Professor Zhang Jiuyang This work is supported by NSFC (2150401321774020).