Liquid‐Metals‐Based Polymer Mixtures, Composites, and Hybrids Perform Differently on Wearable Electronics

ABSTRACT The development and emphasis of wearable electronics increased significantly in recent years. A pivotal field of this evolution is the flexibilization of traditional rigid electrical components. Among various electric conductive materials, liquid metals have been identified as particularly suited to wearable electronics due to their conformality and conductivity. Also because of their room temperature fluid nature, liquid metals are typically employed in conjunction with polymers to mitigate leakage. However, it is important to note that the different distribution and combination of liquid metals and polymers can vary significantly. In view of these, we innovatively classified polymer liquid metal materials into mixtures, hybrids, and composites, and detailed their preparation and performance respectively. Before that, we concisely overviewed various pretreatments of unmanageable liquid metals. Furthermore, to leverage the advantages of different polymer liquid metal materials, the prepared materials play distinct roles in wearable electronics based on their mechanical and electrical properties. These polymer liquid metal materials have been applied in interconnects, bioelectrodes, sensors, and substrates. Finally, we summarized and outlined the preparation and application of polymer liquid metal materials, thereby providing different perspectives and inspirations for the development of polymer liquid metal materials in wearable electronics.