A Dual‐Helix Liquid Metal Tilt Sensor for High‐Precision and Multifunctional Applications

Traditional liquid metal (LM) tilt sensors face limitations in miniaturization and dynamic monitoring due to bulky designs and signal lag caused by high viscosity. To address these challenges, a dual-helix LM tilt sensor that synergizes geometrically guided mass redistribution with oxide-enhanced interfacial adhesion is presented. The sensor features helical microchannels fabricated via metal filament templating, facilitating gravity-induced displacement of LM and periodic modulation of the conductive pathway. This design achieves high-precision tilt detection from -90° to +90°, with an angular resolution of ≤0.5°, rapid response time (≈160 ms), and stable performance over 2000 operating cycles. Demonstrating versatility, the sensor is successfully applied to gesture-based language encoding and surface topography scanning, underscoring its applicability in wearable electronics, robotic systems, and human-machine interaction platforms. This work provides a scalable framework for next-generation tilt sensors with enhanced reliability and adaptability in dynamic environments.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2025-09-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202505999
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

A Dual‐Helix Liquid Metal Tilt Sensor for High‐Precision and Multifunctional Applications

Min Mao, Feifan Guo, Qiang Xu, Fei Zhan et al.
Small
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
article

A Dual‐Helix Liquid Metal Tilt Sensor for High‐Precision and Multifunctional Applications

Min Mao, Feifan Guo, Qiang Xu, Fei Zhan, Nan Li, Lei Wang, Guoqing Wang, Shuya Li, Jiacheng Zhu, Bowen Tian, Hongbin Zhao
article en

Abstract

Traditional liquid metal (LM) tilt sensors face limitations in miniaturization and dynamic monitoring due to bulky designs and signal lag caused by high viscosity. To address these challenges, a dual-helix LM tilt sensor that synergizes geometrically guided mass redistribution with oxide-enhanced interfacial adhesion is presented. The sensor features helical microchannels fabricated via metal filament templating, facilitating gravity-induced displacement of LM and periodic modulation of the conductive pathway. This design achieves high-precision tilt detection from -90° to +90°, with an angular resolution of ≤0.5°, rapid response time (≈160 ms), and stable performance over 2000 operating cycles. Demonstrating versatility, the sensor is successfully applied to gesture-based language encoding and surface topography scanning, underscoring its applicability in wearable electronics, robotic systems, and human-machine interaction platforms. This work provides a scalable framework for next-generation tilt sensors with enhanced reliability and adaptability in dynamic environments.

SmallVol. 21(45)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Beijing Forestry University (CN), Jiangsu Institute of Metrology (CN), Grinm Advanced Materials (China) (CN), Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 75%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
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