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Interfacial H-bonding enabled liquid metal integrated multifunctional elastomeric architectures

  • Composites & nanocomposites
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Abstract

Currently, liquid metal (LM)-based multifunctional soft composites are an emerging class of materials with transformative potential towards flexible electronics, soft robotics, and reconfigurable functionality. Herein, we report an innovative soft bi-phasic composite system by exploiting the H-bonding interaction of LMs with a chemically modified styrenic block copolymer chain, resulting in a soft and ultrastretchable elastomeric material architecture with excellent multifunctional properties. The influence of microstructure and interfacial interactions on the multifunctional properties has been established and also validated using various mathematical models such as Eshelby’s approach, modified Cole–Cole model, and effective medium theory to understand the origin of the unique properties of such materials. The resulting composites exhibit a significant fourfold improvement in the dielectric permittivity and more than 350% improvement in thermal conductivity over neat polymer while maintaining deformability with more than 1400% strain at break. This work provides a cost-effective, facile, and scalable approach to the construction of soft multifunctional composites for soft matter engineering applications.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Pratip Sankar Banerjee acknowledges the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) for necessary funding and support for this research work. Authors acknowledge Magnetics and Advanced Ceramics Lab, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D), for providing the facilities for dielectric spectroscopic analysis. The characterization facilities of FESEM, TEM, and contact angle studies have been provided by the Central Research Facility (CRF), IIT-D, which is greatly acknowledged. Pratip Sankar Banerjee also thankfully acknowledges Aiswarya S (research scholar, DMSE, IIT Delhi) for her support in the preparation of the graphical abstract.

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  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, 110016, India

    Pratip Sankar Banerjee & Shib Shankar Banerjee

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  1. Pratip Sankar Banerjee
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PSB helped in conceptualization, investigation, experimentation, formal analysis, writing—original draft, preparation, and visualization. SSB helped in conceptualization, visualization, writing—review and editing, validation, supervision, and funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Shib Shankar Banerjee.

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Banerjee, P.S., Banerjee, S.S. Interfacial H-bonding enabled liquid metal integrated multifunctional elastomeric architectures. J Mater Sci 58, 14009–14028 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-08894-6

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