Reactive wetting enabled anchoring of non-wettable iron oxide in liquid metal for miniature soft robot

Yifeng Shen; Dongdong Jin; Mingming Fu; Sanhu Liu; Zhiwu Xu; Qinghua Cao; Bo Wang; Guoqiang Li; Wenjun Chen; Shaoqin Liu; Xing Ma

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-41920-4

Nature Communications (Oct 2023)

Reactive wetting enabled anchoring of non-wettable iron oxide in liquid metal for miniature soft robot

Yifeng Shen,
Dongdong Jin,
Mingming Fu,
Sanhu Liu,
Zhiwu Xu,
Qinghua Cao,
Bo Wang,
Guoqiang Li,
Wenjun Chen,
Shaoqin Liu,
Xing Ma

Affiliations

Yifeng Shen: Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)
Dongdong Jin: Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)
Mingming Fu: Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)
Sanhu Liu: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology
Zhiwu Xu: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology
Qinghua Cao: School of Materials Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science
Bo Wang: School of Materials Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science
Guoqiang Li: Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)
Wenjun Chen: Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)
Shaoqin Liu: Key Laboratory of Microsystems and Microstructures Manufacturing, School of Medicine and Health, Harbin Institute of Technology
Xing Ma: Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41920-4
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Abstract Magnetic liquid metal (LM) soft robots attract considerable attentions because of distinctive immiscibility, deformability and maneuverability. However, conventional LM composites relying on alloying between LM and metallic magnetic powders suffer from diminished magnetism over time and potential safety risk upon leakage of metallic components. Herein, we report a strategy to composite inert and biocompatible iron oxide (Fe3O4) magnetic nanoparticles into eutectic gallium indium LM via reactive wetting mechanism. To address the intrinsic interfacial non-wettability between Fe3O4 and LM, a silver intermediate layer was introduced to fuse with indium component into Ag x In y intermetallic compounds, facilitating the anchoring of Fe3O4 nanoparticles inside LM with improved magnetic stability. Subsequently, a miniature soft robot was constructed to perform various controllable deformation and locomotion behaviors under actuation of external magnetic field. Finally, practical feasibility of applying LM soft robot in an ex vivo porcine stomach was validated under in-situ monitoring by endoscope and X-ray imaging.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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