Gallium-Based Room-Temperature Liquid Metals: Actuation and Manipulation of Droplets and Flows
Gallium-based room-temperature liquid metals possess extremely valuable properties, such as low toxicity, low vapor pressure, and high thermal and electrical conductivity enabling them to become suitable substitutes for mercury and beyond in wide range of applications. When exposed to air, a native...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-08-01
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Series: | Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering |
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Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmech.2017.00009/full |
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author | Leily Majidi Dmitry Gritsenko Jie Xu |
author_facet | Leily Majidi Dmitry Gritsenko Jie Xu |
author_sort | Leily Majidi |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Gallium-based room-temperature liquid metals possess extremely valuable properties, such as low toxicity, low vapor pressure, and high thermal and electrical conductivity enabling them to become suitable substitutes for mercury and beyond in wide range of applications. When exposed to air, a native oxide layer forms on the surface of gallium-based liquid metals which mechanically stabilizes the liquid. By removing or reconstructing the oxide skin, shape and state of liquid metal droplets and flows can be manipulated/actuated desirably. This can occur manually or in the presence/absence of a magnetic/electric field. These methods lead to numerous useful applications such as soft electronics, reconfigurable devices, and soft robots. In this mini-review, we summarize the most recent progresses achieved on liquid metal droplet generation and actuation of gallium-based liquid metals with/without an external force. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:09:02Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-1a608974b2ff4eb28ea2d272c3eef3e3 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2297-3079 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:09:02Z |
publishDate | 2017-08-01 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | Article |
series | Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering |
spelling | doaj.art-1a608974b2ff4eb28ea2d272c3eef3e32022-12-22T02:15:39ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering2297-30792017-08-01310.3389/fmech.2017.00009271137Gallium-Based Room-Temperature Liquid Metals: Actuation and Manipulation of Droplets and FlowsLeily Majidi0Dmitry Gritsenko1Jie Xu2Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United StatesMechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United StatesMechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United StatesGallium-based room-temperature liquid metals possess extremely valuable properties, such as low toxicity, low vapor pressure, and high thermal and electrical conductivity enabling them to become suitable substitutes for mercury and beyond in wide range of applications. When exposed to air, a native oxide layer forms on the surface of gallium-based liquid metals which mechanically stabilizes the liquid. By removing or reconstructing the oxide skin, shape and state of liquid metal droplets and flows can be manipulated/actuated desirably. This can occur manually or in the presence/absence of a magnetic/electric field. These methods lead to numerous useful applications such as soft electronics, reconfigurable devices, and soft robots. In this mini-review, we summarize the most recent progresses achieved on liquid metal droplet generation and actuation of gallium-based liquid metals with/without an external force.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmech.2017.00009/fullgallium-based liquid metalliquid metal manipulationliquid metal oxide skinreconfigurable devicessoft electronics |
spellingShingle | Leily Majidi Dmitry Gritsenko Jie Xu Gallium-Based Room-Temperature Liquid Metals: Actuation and Manipulation of Droplets and Flows Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering gallium-based liquid metal liquid metal manipulation liquid metal oxide skin reconfigurable devices soft electronics |
title | Gallium-Based Room-Temperature Liquid Metals: Actuation and Manipulation of Droplets and Flows |
title_full | Gallium-Based Room-Temperature Liquid Metals: Actuation and Manipulation of Droplets and Flows |
title_fullStr | Gallium-Based Room-Temperature Liquid Metals: Actuation and Manipulation of Droplets and Flows |
title_full_unstemmed | Gallium-Based Room-Temperature Liquid Metals: Actuation and Manipulation of Droplets and Flows |
title_short | Gallium-Based Room-Temperature Liquid Metals: Actuation and Manipulation of Droplets and Flows |
title_sort | gallium based room temperature liquid metals actuation and manipulation of droplets and flows |
topic | gallium-based liquid metal liquid metal manipulation liquid metal oxide skin reconfigurable devices soft electronics |
url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmech.2017.00009/full |
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