Gallium liquid metal: the Devil's elixir
Gallium liquid metal: the Devil's elixir
Gallium is a metal that literally melts in your hand. It has low toxicity, near-zero vapor pressure, and a viscosity similar to water. Despite possessing a surface tension larger than any other liquid (near room temperature), gallium can form nonspherical shapes due to the thin, solid native oxide skin that forms rapidly in oxygen. These properties enable new ways to pattern metals (e.g., injection and printing) to create stretchable and soft devices with an unmatched combination of mechanical and electrical properties. The oxide skin can be transferred to other substrates and manipulated electrochemically to lower the interfacial tension to near zero. The reactivity of gallium can drive a wide range of reactions. The liquid state of gallium makes it easy to break into particles for making colloids and soft composites that have unusual properties due to the deformable nature of the filler. This review summarizes the truly unique and exciting properties of gallium liquid metals.
EGaIn, Ga, Gallium, Liquid metal, Reactive metals, Soft devices
381-408
Tang, Shi Yang
1d0f15c6-2a3e-4bad-a3d8-fc267db93ed4
Tabor, Christopher
2d866826-2413-4d17-87c9-e60d7836bb40
Kalantar-Zadeh, Kourosh
aded6a64-8612-40b7-aae9-233fbae916a6
Dickey, Michael D.
5fe7588c-05b3-4e27-a023-e9a5cb72a305
26 July 2021
Tang, Shi Yang
1d0f15c6-2a3e-4bad-a3d8-fc267db93ed4
Tabor, Christopher
2d866826-2413-4d17-87c9-e60d7836bb40
Kalantar-Zadeh, Kourosh
aded6a64-8612-40b7-aae9-233fbae916a6
Dickey, Michael D.
5fe7588c-05b3-4e27-a023-e9a5cb72a305
Tang, Shi Yang, Tabor, Christopher, Kalantar-Zadeh, Kourosh and Dickey, Michael D.
(2021)
Gallium liquid metal: the Devil's elixir.
Annual Review of Materials Research, 51, .
(doi:10.1146/annurev-matsci-080819-125403).
Abstract
Gallium is a metal that literally melts in your hand. It has low toxicity, near-zero vapor pressure, and a viscosity similar to water. Despite possessing a surface tension larger than any other liquid (near room temperature), gallium can form nonspherical shapes due to the thin, solid native oxide skin that forms rapidly in oxygen. These properties enable new ways to pattern metals (e.g., injection and printing) to create stretchable and soft devices with an unmatched combination of mechanical and electrical properties. The oxide skin can be transferred to other substrates and manipulated electrochemically to lower the interfacial tension to near zero. The reactivity of gallium can drive a wide range of reactions. The liquid state of gallium makes it easy to break into particles for making colloids and soft composites that have unusual properties due to the deformable nature of the filler. This review summarizes the truly unique and exciting properties of gallium liquid metals.
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Published date: 26 July 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
M.D.D. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST, EEC-1160483), CBET- 1510772, and CMMI-1362284
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2021 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
EGaIn, Ga, Gallium, Liquid metal, Reactive metals, Soft devices
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 481772
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/481772
ISSN: 1531-7331
PURE UUID: 3bc2e3ab-db42-4d78-812d-ca1464553edb
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Date deposited: 07 Sep 2023 16:36
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:13
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Contributors
Author:
Shi Yang Tang
Author:
Christopher Tabor
Author:
Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh
Author:
Michael D. Dickey
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