Biomimetic Liquid Metal Cell

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Li, Jingyi, Qiao, Mengwen, Guo, Minghui, Xing, Zerong, Bai, Yunlong, Wang, Ju, Song, Yujia, Xu, Ren, Zhao, Xi, Liu, Jing
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Li, Jingyi
Qiao, Mengwen
Guo, Minghui
Xing, Zerong
Bai, Yunlong
Wang, Ju
Song, Yujia
Xu, Ren
Zhao, Xi
Liu, Jing
author_facet Li, Jingyi
Qiao, Mengwen
Guo, Minghui
Xing, Zerong
Bai, Yunlong
Wang, Ju
Song, Yujia
Xu, Ren
Zhao, Xi
Liu, Jing
contents Gallium-based liquid metals, as a broad category of emerging functional materials with unique physical, chemical, and biological properties, offer numerous possibilities for advancing intelligent systems. However, a basic query persistently remains for the complex liquid metal system: Is there a minimal functional unit that can fully capture its diversity of morphology and function? Cells, as the most basic structural and functional units of life, are small in scale but have complex structures, functions, and life activities. Analogous to nature, this article proposes the concept of liquid metal cells, and systematically explores their construction routes, sensing capabilities, motion behaviors, and potential applications. We first construct a multi-phase composite structure with liquid metal as the nucleus, ionic solution as the cytoplasm, and polymer as the cell membrane by developing a layered cryogenic molding method. Furthermore, we reveal that liquid metal cells exhibit inherently versatile responsive characteristics and self-adaptive behaviors to thermal, pressure, chemical, electrical, and magnetic fields, indicating "small world, vast potential". Based on these fundamental findings, we finally demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing liquid metal cells as sensors, fluidic valves, and material transport carriers in flow channels through dynamic control.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_04455
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Biomimetic Liquid Metal Cell
Li, Jingyi
Qiao, Mengwen
Guo, Minghui
Xing, Zerong
Bai, Yunlong
Wang, Ju
Song, Yujia
Xu, Ren
Zhao, Xi
Liu, Jing
Applied Physics
Gallium-based liquid metals, as a broad category of emerging functional materials with unique physical, chemical, and biological properties, offer numerous possibilities for advancing intelligent systems. However, a basic query persistently remains for the complex liquid metal system: Is there a minimal functional unit that can fully capture its diversity of morphology and function? Cells, as the most basic structural and functional units of life, are small in scale but have complex structures, functions, and life activities. Analogous to nature, this article proposes the concept of liquid metal cells, and systematically explores their construction routes, sensing capabilities, motion behaviors, and potential applications. We first construct a multi-phase composite structure with liquid metal as the nucleus, ionic solution as the cytoplasm, and polymer as the cell membrane by developing a layered cryogenic molding method. Furthermore, we reveal that liquid metal cells exhibit inherently versatile responsive characteristics and self-adaptive behaviors to thermal, pressure, chemical, electrical, and magnetic fields, indicating "small world, vast potential". Based on these fundamental findings, we finally demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing liquid metal cells as sensors, fluidic valves, and material transport carriers in flow channels through dynamic control.
title Biomimetic Liquid Metal Cell
topic Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.04455