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Tension-driven three-dimensional printing of free-standing Field’s metal structures

Nature Electronics volume 7, pages 671–683 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

The direct writing of complex three-dimensional (3D) metallic structures is of use in the development of advanced electronics. However, conventional direct ink writing primarily uses composite inks that have low electrical conductivity and require support materials to create 3D architectures. Here we show that Field’s metal—a eutectic alloy with a relatively low melting point—can be 3D printed using a process in which tension between the molten metal in a nozzle and the leading edge of the printed part allows 3D structures to be directly written. The use of tension avoids using external pressure for extrusion (which can cause beading of the printed structure), allowing uniform and smooth microwire structures to be printed on various substrates with speeds of up to 100 mm s−1. We use the approach to print various free-standing 3D structures—including vertical letters, a cubic framework and scalable helixes—without post-treatment, and the resulting Field’s metal structures can offer electrical conductivity of 2 × 104 S cm−1, self-healing capability and recyclability. We also use the technique to print a 3D circuit for wearable battery-free temperature sensing, hemispherical helical antennas for wireless vital sign monitoring and 3D metamaterials for electromagnetic-wave manipulation.

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Fig. 1: Conductive high-aspect-ratio 3D printing of Field’s metal.
Fig. 2: CHARM3D of free-standing 3D metal structures.
Fig. 3: Numerical analysis of thermal and mechanical physics during printing.
Fig. 4: Printed self-healing and 3D electronics.
Fig. 5: 3D printed antenna for wireless vital sign monitoring.
Fig. 6: Free-standing 3D metamaterial.

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Source data are provided with this paper. Additional data related to this work are available from the corresponding authors upon request.

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Acknowledgements

B.C.K.T. acknowledges funding support from the Agency for Science Technology and Research Singapore (A*STAR) grants A20H8a0241 and A18A8b0059 and the NUS iHealthtech Institute. We thank Y. Zhao, J. Yang and S. Ong for assisting with the 3D printing and Z. J. Yang for photography. S.L. thanks S. Chang for discussions on material characterization. We also thank P. Q. Liu for assistance with the measurements in Fig. 6.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Shaohua Ling, Xi Tian.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Shaohua Ling, Zhihang Qin & Benjamin C. K. Tee

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Shaohua Ling, Zhihang Qin, Yu Jun Tan & Jerry Y. H. Fuh

  3. Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute & Center of Double Helix, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Xi Tian

  4. Institute for Health Innovation and Technology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Qihang Zeng, John S. Ho & Benjamin C. K. Tee

  5. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Qihang Zeng, Selman A. Kurt & John S. Ho

  6. Institute of High Performance Computing, Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore

    Zhuangjian Liu

  7. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Michael D. Dickey

  8. The N.1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    John S. Ho & Benjamin C. K. Tee

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Contributions

S.L., X.T., J.S.H. and B.C.K.T. conceived, designed and conducted the research. S.L. and Z.Q. carried out the 3D printing and FEA. Y.J.T. and J.Y.H.F. guided the 3D printing. S.L., X.T. and S.A.K. performed the design, fabrication and characterization of the 3D circuits. X.T. and Q.Z. performed the design and demonstration of the non-contact vital sign monitoring. S.L., X.T., Q.Z., S.A.K., M.D.D., J.S.H. and B.C.K.T. wrote the paper with contribution from all the authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to John S. Ho or Benjamin C. K. Tee.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Peer review information

Nature Electronics thanks Yong Lin Kong and Yang Yang for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–23, Table 1 and Discussion.

Supplementary Video 1

3D printing of free-standing metal structures (wires, letters and cubic framework).

Supplementary Video 2

3D printing of a free-standing helix.

Supplementary Video 3

Self-healing of a printed circuit

Supplementary Video 4

3D printed multilayer circuit for battery-free temperature sensing.

Supplementary Video 5

3D antennas for sensitive and wireless vital sign monitoring.

Supplementary Video 6

3D printing of free-standing metamaterial unit.

Supplementary Video 7

Thermal physics analysis for vertex connection.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 2

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 3

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 5

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 6

Statistical source data.

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Ling, S., Tian, X., Zeng, Q. et al. Tension-driven three-dimensional printing of free-standing Field’s metal structures. Nat Electron 7, 671–683 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-024-01207-y

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