Gallium‐Based Liquid Metal Composites with Enhanced Thermal and Electrical Performance Enabled by Structural Engineering of Filler

This article presents a systematic study on the impact of structural engineering of metallic copper fillers on the thermal and electrical performance of gallium-based liquid metal composites. Herein, the copper fillers are directly blended into liquid metal matrix in air. Spherical copper filler is selected as a filler model to explore the influence of the size and amount of filler on the thermal conductivity of liquid metal composites. The significant enhancement in both thermal conductivity (approximate to 301% enhancement, 54.2 W m(-1) K-1, 51 vol%, 100 mu m of spherical copper) and electrical conductivity (approximate to 163% enhancement, 5.18 S mu m(-1)) can be achieved by optimizing size, shape, and amount of the fillers. The as-prepared copper filler-liquid metal composite shows distinguished heat dissipation performance in the thermal management of electronic devices. This work may also help to expand their usage in a wide range of applications, including thermal management systems, biomedical systems, and smart robotics.