Soft electronics are intensively studied as the integration of electronics with dynamic nonplanar surfaces has become necessary. Here, a discussion of the strategies in materials innovation and structural design to build soft electronic devices and systems is provided. For each strategy, the presentation focuses on the fundamental materials science and mechanics, and example device applications are highlighted where possible. Finally, perspectives on the key challenges and future directions of this field are presented.

Materials and Structures toward Soft Electronics.

Binary mixtures of liquid metal (LM) or low-melting-point alloy (LMPA) in an elastomeric or fluidic carrier medium can exhibit unique combinations of electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. This emerging class of soft multifunctional composites have potential applications in wearable computing, bio-inspired robotics, and shape-programmable architectures. The dispersion phase can range from dilute droplets to connected networks that support electrical conductivity. In contrast to deterministically patterned LM microfluidics, LMPA- and LM-embedded elastomer (LMEE) composites are statistically homogenous and exhibit effective bulk properties. Eutectic Ga-In (EGaIn) and Ga-In-Sn (Galinstan) alloys are typically used due to their high conductivity, low viscosity, negligible nontoxicity, and ability to wet to nonmetallic materials. Because they are liquid-phase, these alloys can alter the electrical and thermal properties of the composite while preserving the mechanics of the surrounding medium. For composites with LMPA inclusions (e.g., Field's metal, Pb-based solder), mechanical rigidity can be actively tuned with external heating or electrical activation. This progress report, reviews recent experimental and theoretical studies of this emerging class of soft material architectures and identifies current technical challenges and opportunities for further advancement.

Soft Multifunctional Composites and Emulsions with Liquid Metals

Thank you for reading fundamentals of powder diffraction and structural characterization of materials. As you may know, people have search hundreds times for their favorite readings like this fundamentals of powder diffraction and structural characterization of materials, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some infectious bugs inside their laptop.

Fundamentals Of Powder Diffraction And Structural Characterization Of Materials

: Fourier inversion of EXAFS data is a powerful new technique for structural investigation of non-crystalline materials with the unique capability to determine the near neighbor environment of each type of atom in a complex material. The radial structure function so obtained contains information on the number, distance to, and distribution of atoms surrounding the absorbing atom. The data on Ge and Ge02 generally agree with previous findings but with added detail. The environment of both Ge and Se in amorphous GeSe show a significant change from the crystalline material with evidence for local satisfaction of the directed bonding tendencies of each atomic species. (Author)

The Structure of Non-Crystalline Materials

Thermophysical Properties of the Liquid Ga−In−Sn Eutectic Alloy

New workable aluminum-based light alloys are a key issue in current materials science. In this work, thermophysical properties (density, viscosity, and electrical conductivity) of liquid Al-4 wt pct Cu, Al-20 wt pct Cu, Al-30 wt pct Cu, and AlCu4TiMg alloys have been measured in a wide temperature range. The anomalies with respect to the concentration dependence of the electrical conductivity are explained in terms of the s-d hybridization model. A comparison with data and scaling relations available in the literature is given.

Density, Viscosity, and Electrical Conductivity of Hypoeutectic Al-Cu Liquid Alloys

Surface tension and density of liquid Bi-Pb, Bi-Sn and Bi-Pb-Sn eutectic alloys

An original experimental technique for simultaneous electrical conductivity and thermo-e.m.f. measurements in a wide temperature range (up to 2000 K) under high pressures (up to 50 MPa) has been developed. Special ceramic measuring cells were designed and constructed for investigation of chemically aggressive liquid semiconductors. Different sources of errors connected with convective flows, jamming signals, systematic deviation of measuring devices and especially diffusion of the liquid sample into the body of the ceramic are analysed and method of elimination are proposed. New results for some liquid metal-chalcogen alloys in comparison with those obtained earlier illustrate advantages of the proposed method.

Electrophysical measurements for strongly aggressive liquid semiconductors

Shear viscosity of liquid Sn–Ag, Sn–Cu and Sn–Ag–Cu eutectics from melting temperature up to 1100 K and their electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power up to 850 K have been investigated. The electrical properties of liquid Sn with additions of Fe and Ni have also been studied. It is shown that small amounts of metal admixtures affect noticeably the behavior of the physical properties of liquid Sn.

Vasyl Sklyarchuk

Papers

Thermophysical Properties of the Liquid Ga−In−Sn Eutectic Alloy

Density, Viscosity, and Electrical Conductivity of Hypoeutectic Al-Cu Liquid Alloys

Surface tension and density of liquid Bi-Pb, Bi-Sn and Bi-Pb-Sn eutectic alloys

Electrophysical measurements for strongly aggressive liquid semiconductors

Electrical conductivity, thermoelectric power and viscosity of liquid Sn-based alloys