Fig. 2: 3D printing and characterizations of liquid metal polymer composites (LMPCs).
From: 3D-printed liquid metal polymer composites as NIR-responsive 4D printing soft robot
a The fabrication process of 3D-printed objects by using diphenyl (2,4,6-trimethyl benzoyl) phosphine oxide (TPO) as photo-initiator, tert-butyl acrylate (TBAm) as the monomer, poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) as a crosslinker, and RLMNPs as RAFT agents. d, t, l, and w mean the diameter, thickness, length and width of the LMPCs, respectively; (b) SEM photograph and EDS elemental mapping of 3D-printed objects with RLMNPs; the detected elements included Ga, In, P and S; (c) SEM photograph and EDS elemental mapping of RLMNPs in 3D-printed LMPCs; (d) A model resembling the Sydney Opera House (1 wt% of RLMNPs) was manufactured using stereolithography 3D printing; (e) Mechanical properties of LMPCs and LMPCs without RAFT agents; (f) Mechanical properties of LMPCs containing different concentrations of RLMNPs (0, 0.5, 1, and 2 wt%). Bars in (e and f) represent means ± SD (n = 3 independent 3D-printed samples). Exact p-values given in (e) were obtained using an unpaired two-sided t test, and p-value ranges provided in (f) were obtained using one-way ANOVA.
