Liquid metal-based soft, hermetic, and wireless-communicable seals for stretchable systems

Abstract

Soft materials tend to be highly permeable to gases, making it difficult to create stretchable hermetic seals. With the integration of spacers, we demonstrate the use of liquid metals, which show both metallic and fluidic properties, as stretchable hermetic seals. Such soft seals are used in both a stretchable battery and a stretchable heat transfer system that involve volatile fluids, including water and organic fluids. The capacity retention of the battery was ~72.5% after 500 cycles, and the sealed heat transfer system showed an increased thermal conductivity of approximately 309 watts per meter-kelvin while strained and heated. Furthermore, with the incorporation of a signal transmission window, we demonstrated wireless communication through such seals. This work provides a route to create stretchable yet hermetic packaging design solutions for soft devices.