7 research outputs found
An Electrically Actuated Liquid-Metal Gain-Reconfigurable Antenna
A tunable liquid-metal antenna demonstrating gain reconfigurability is presented. This antenna uses a reconfigurable stub made with the liquid metal Galinstan. Using continuous electrowetting, a 60 Hz signal with an amplitude of 1 Vpp and 75% duty cycle can actuate the Galinstan continuously along a channel, tuning the stub length and antenna gain. Zero external power is required to maintain the position of the slug. The 5 GHz antenna offers more than 10 dB of analog gain tuning, from −5.90 to 4.43 dB
Frequency-Reconfigurable Dipole Antenna Using Liquid-Metal Pixels
A frequency-tunable half-wavelength dipole antenna is realized using an array of electrically actuated liquid-metal pixels. The liquid-metal pixelated dipole antenna demonstrates frequency reconfigurability by switching between resonances at 2.51 GHz, 2.12 GHz, 1.85 GHz, and 1.68 GHz
Self-Actuation of Liquid Metal via Redox Reaction
Presented
here is a method for actuating a gallium-based liquid-metal
alloy without the need for an external power supply. Liquid metal
is used as an anode to drive a complementary oxygen reduction reaction,
resulting in the spontaneous growth of hydrophilic gallium oxide on
the liquid-metal surface, which induces flow of the liquid metal into
a channel. The extent and duration of the actuation are controllable
throughout the process, and the induced flow is both reversible and
repeatable. This self-actuation technique can also be used to trigger
other electrokinetic or fluidic mechanisms