Maintaining a steady affinity between gallium-based liquid metals (LM) and polymer binders, particularly under continuous mechanical deformation, such as extrusion-based 3D printing or plating/stripping of Zinc ion (Zn2+ ), is very challenging. Here, an LM-initialized polyacrylamide-hemicellulose/EGaIn microdroplets hydrogel is used as a multifunctional ink to 3D-print self-standing scaffolds and anode hosts for Zn-ion batteries. The LM microdroplets initiate acrylamide polymerization without additional initiators and cross-linkers, forming a double-covalent hydrogen-bonded network. The hydrogel acts as a framework for stress dissipation, enabling recovery from structural damage due to the cyclic plating/stripping of Zn2+ . The LM-microdroplet-initialized polymerization with hemicelluloses can facilitate the production of 3D printable inks for energy storage devices.
Keywords: 3D printing; Zn-ion batteries; anode hosts; free-radical polymerization; liquid metal microdroplets.
© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.