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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Main Authors: Leily Majidi, Dmitry Gritsenko, Jie Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2017-08-01
Series:Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering
Subjects:
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.
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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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AT dmitrygritsenko galliumbasedroomtemperatureliquidmetalsactuationandmanipulationofdropletsandflows
AT jiexu galliumbasedroomtemperatureliquidmetalsactuationandmanipulationofdropletsandflows