Liquid metal spring: oscillating coalescence and ejection of contacting liquid metal droplets

Yuan, Bin; He, Zhi‐Zhu; Fang, Wenqiang; Bao, Xin; Liu, Jing

doi:10.1007/s11434-015-0751-x

Cited by 30 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Some of the droplets may become coalesced after collision, some just bounced apart, while some new small droplets were pinched off. This dynamic coalescence phenomenon is somewhat similar to the former case as observed on the gently contacting liquid metal droplets [15].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

Self-powered macroscopic Brownian motion of spontaneously running liquid metal motors

et al. 2015

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

Self-powered macroscopic Brownian motion of spontaneously running liquid metal motors

et al. 2015

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“…Droplets usually perform several similar partial-coalescence steps before being completely swallowed. 27,28 The repeated developing pattern of implies the LMD in our circumstance also follows this rule and experiences a second coalescence. The difference of between the pre-coalescence state and the coalescence state shows unambiguously that the existence of a liquid film do increase the resistance between the two LM bodies.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 66%

Surfing liquid metal droplet on the same metal bath via electrolyte interface

Zhao

Tang

Liu

2017

Applied Physics Letters

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We reported a phenomenon that when exerting an electric field gradient across a liquid metal/electrolyte interface, a droplet of the same liquid metal can persistently surf on the interface without coalescence. A thin layer of the intermediate solution, which separates the droplet from direct metallic contacting and provides the levitating force, is responsible for such surfing effect. The electric resistance of this solution film is measured and the film thickness is further theoretically calculated. The fact that the levitating state can be switched on and off via a controlled manner paves a way for reliable manipulation of liquid metal droplet.

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“…Previously, these and similar low‐voltage electrochemical methods for manipulating LM have been studied for achieving drastic surface area changes, device reconfiguration, tunable antennas, and light valving . While LM droplet coalescence has been studied in water with reductive voltages and in NaOH solution without applied current (spontaneous coalescence), this work focuses on the controlled use of oxidative potentials to achieve this goal. Furthermore, the method for separation harnesses a novel electrocapillary instability driven by oxide‐induced interfacial tension gradients, which has not before been demonstrated in the literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field‐Controlled Electrical Switch with Liquid Metal

2017

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When immersed in an electrolyte, droplets of Ga‐based liquid metal (LM) alloy can be manipulated in ways not possible with conventional electrocapillarity or electrowetting. This study demonstrates how LM electrochemistry can be exploited to coalesce and separate droplets under moderate voltages of ~1–10 V. This novel approach to droplet interaction can be explained with a theory that accounts for oxidation and reduction as well as fluidic instabilities. Based on simulations and experimental analysis, this study finds that droplet separation is governed by a unique limit‐point instability that arises from gradients in bipolar electrochemical reactions that lead to gradients in interfacial tension. The LM coalescence and separation are used to create a field‐programmable electrical switch. As with conventional relays or flip‐flop latch circuits, the system can transition between bistable (separated or coalesced) states, making it useful for memory storage, logic, and shape‐programmable circuitry using entirely liquids instead of solid‐state materials.

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Liquid metal spring: oscillating coalescence and ejection of contacting liquid metal droplets

Cited by 30 publications

References 20 publications

Self-powered macroscopic Brownian motion of spontaneously running liquid metal motors

Self-powered macroscopic Brownian motion of spontaneously running liquid metal motors

Surfing liquid metal droplet on the same metal bath via electrolyte interface

Field‐Controlled Electrical Switch with Liquid Metal

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