Virginia Tech prints liquid metal silicone that conducts heat 40 times better
A Virginia Tech lab prints a silicone filled with droplets of liquid gallium-indium alloy, then stretches the droplets during printing so heat flows along them. A 2025 paper reports 9.9 W/mK along the droplet direction, about 40 times unfilled silicone. The work is early research aimed at custom heat sinks and stretchable wearables.