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Yang et al. Soft Sci 2024;4:9 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/ss.2023.43 Page 5 of 26

Figure 1. Summarized introduction regarding cryosurgery and cryopreservation. The challenge and the current solutions are presented.
The basic properties of emerging LMs, which are thought to be a new solution for the development of cryobiology, are listed. LMs:
Liquid metals; NPs: nano-particles.

Ga-based LMs could also incorporate with metallic nanoparticles through intermetallic wetting, which is
induced by the formation of strong metallic bonds. Tang et al. disclosed the intermetallic wetting-induced
[50]
LM phagocytosis of copper nanoparticles . Based on the experimental phenomena of biomimetic
phagocytosis behavior of LM droplets and the theoretical calculation of surface free energy, they conclude
that: (1) The autonomous internalization behavior is a complete wetting phenomenon; (2) Irreversible
intermetallic wetting provides sufficient force to overcome the energy barrier required for the transition
from non-wetting to wetting state. In another work conducted by Tang et al., a typical intermetallic phase,
[51]
CuGa , was observed and characterized to exist stably in GaIn-Cu composites . Doping with copper
2
microparticles led to an impressive alteration in mechanical properties, thermal and electrical
conductivities, and melting/solidification points. In this manner, the characters of LM composites could be
regulated more precisely compared to the agitation approach. Adopting this technique, GaIn-Cu, with
[52]
improved thermal and electrical conductivity, has been applied to flexible electronics and enhanced
cryoablation .
[53]
Following the voltage-facilitated Cu particles doping approach proposed by Tang et al., Hou et al. prepared
GaIn-Cu composites to enhance the cryoablation efficacy [51,53] . This principle also provided inspiration for
Park et al. to introduce LM-lyophobic carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to be finely incorporated with eutectic