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Powderization of gallium-indium eutectic alloy with small-molecule surfactants for the simple preparation of liquid metal-polymer composites

Polymer Journal (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Gallium-based liquid metals are promising materials for fabricating polymer composites with electrical and thermal conductivities because of their intrinsic deformability and metallic properties. However, their high surface tension often prevents the easy preparation of uniformly dispersed composites. Herein, we propose the “powderization” method for the preparation of eutectic gallium–indium alloys by using a small-molecule dispersant, such as 1-dodecanethiol, affording powdery samples that can be treated like a solid-state powder. Mechanical shear forces can induce the recovery of the liquid metal bulk through the coalescence of microparticles in the powdery samples. Several types of polymer composites based on these powdered liquid metals are prepared simply by manual mixing and exhibit stimulus-responsive electrical conductivity and microwave heating.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Prof. Yoshihiro Sasaki and Dr. Ryosuke Mizuta of Kyoto University for the TEM measurements. We also deeply thank Dr. Naoya Inoue and Dr. Takashi Maki of Spectris Co., Ltd. for laser diffraction measurements. This work was partially supported by the Hosokawa Powder Technology Foundation (for S.I., Grant Number HPTF22102), a Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (for S.I., JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 23K13793), for Scientific Research (B) (for K.T., JSPS KAKENHI Grant number, 24K01570), and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. RS-2024-00406152).

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  1. Department of Polymer Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Katsura, Kyoto, Japan

    Christopher Hiromi Shimamura, Shunichiro Ito & Kazuo Tanaka

  2. Department of Technology and Ecology, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Shunichiro Ito & Kazuo Tanaka

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  1. Christopher Hiromi Shimamura
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Correspondence to Kazuo Tanaka.

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Shimamura, C.H., Ito, S. & Tanaka, K. Powderization of gallium-indium eutectic alloy with small-molecule surfactants for the simple preparation of liquid metal-polymer composites. Polym J (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-025-01130-9

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