A Handy Flexible Micro-Thermocouple Using Low-Melting-Point Metal Alloys
- Resource Type
- article
- Authors
- Qifu Wang; Meng Gao; Lunjia Zhang; Zhongshan Deng; Lin Gui
- Source
- Sensors, Vol 19, Iss 2, p 314 (2019)
- Subject
- micro-thermocouple
flexible sensor
low-melting-point alloys
liquid metal
Chemical technology
TP1-1185
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1424-8220
A handy, flexible micro-thermocouple using low-melting-point metal alloys is proposed in this paper. The thermocouple has the advantages of simple fabrication and convenient integration. Bismuth/gallium-based mixed alloys are used as thermocouple materials. To precisely inject the metal alloys to the location of the sensing area, a micro-polydimethylsiloxane post is designed within the sensing area to prevent outflow of the metal alloy to another thermocouple pole during the metal-alloy injection. Experimental results showed that the Seebeck coefficient of this thermocouple reached −10.54 μV/K, which was much higher than the previously reported 0.1 μV/K. The thermocouple was also be bent at 90° more than 200 times without any damage when the mass ratio of the bismuth-based alloy was