Liquid Metal-Based Angle Detection Sensor

Liquid metal (LM) as the universal artificial biomimetic sensory material has attracted much interest in academic and industrial applications, such as soft robots, flexible electronics, and micro–nano devices. It remains a pivotal challenge to develop a stable and highly sensitive angle detection with a rapid response. Herein, we present an LM-based angle detection sensor. Ga-based LM is gradually injected into hollow fibers with rough internal structures, resulting in a gradient of LM content inside the fibers due to the synergistic effect of pressure drop and the fast formation of an oxide film on its surface. The LM is affected by the gravity pressure when the fiber is tilted, and the Laplace pressure on the surface of the LM continuously reaches an equilibrium state to induce the continuous deformation of the LM. The proposed sensor with highly sensitive to the tilt angle and showcases a linear relation with the tilt angle. For its advantages, this work shows a great potential application in sensor fields and opens routes for the application of electronic whiskers.