A Ph.D. student in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Kim was honored for his paper entitled “All-Soft Sensing Platform based on Liquid Metal for Liquid- and Gas-Phase VOC Detection.” His coauthors include his Ph.D. advisor and ECE Professor Oliver Brand and Kim’s fellow ECE Ph.D. students Hommood Alrowais and Choongsoon Kim, who are also advised by Brand.

This paper introduces an all-soft microfluidic sensing platform based on liquid metal (eutectic gallium-indium alloy, EGaIn) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) for volatile organic compound (VOC) detection in the liquid and gas phase. For device fabrication, an advanced liquid metal patterning method based on soft lithography is used to form interdigitated capacitors and integrate them with microfluidics. To highlight flexibility and stretchability, the electrical characteristics of the interdigitated capacitor are investigated subject to mechanical loading. Finally, VOC detection is demonstrated using the all-soft microfluidic sensing platform in both the liquid and gas phase.

Thanks to its softness, lightweight, flexibility, and stretchability, the proposed chemical sensing platform is suited for wearable sensing applications either on the skin or on clothing and for potential applications in next-generation sensing electronics for the Internet of Things (IoT).