Some Issues in Liquid Metals Research

Abstract

The ten articles [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] included in this Special Issue on "Liquid Metals" do not intend to comprehensively cover this extensive field, but, rather, to highlight recent discoveries that have greatly broadened the scope of technological applications of these materials. Improvements in understanding the physics of liquid metals are, to a large extent, due to the powerful theoretical tools in the hands of scientists, either semi-empirical [1,5,6] or ab initio (molecular dynamics, see [7]). Surface tension and wetting at metal/ceramic interfaces is an everlasting field of fundamental research with important technological implications. The review of [2] is broad enough, as the work carried out at Grenoble covers almost all interesting matters in the field. Some issues of interest in geophysics and astrophysics are discussed in [3]. The recently discovered liquid-liquid transition in several metals is dealt with in [4]. The fifth contribution [5] discusses the role of icosahedral superclusters in crystallization. In [6], thermodynamic calculations are carried out to identify the regions of the ternary phase diagram of Al-Cu-Y, where the formation of amorphous alloys is most probable. Experimental data and ab initio calculations are presented in [7] to show that an optimal microstructure is obtained if Mg is added to the Al-Si melt before than the modifier AlP alloy. Shock-induced melting of metals by means of laser driven compression is discussed in [8]. With respect to recent discoveries, one of the most outstanding developments is that of gallium alloys that are liquid at room temperature [9], and that, due to the oxide layer that readily cover their surface, maintain some "stiffness". This has opened the possibility of 3D printing with liquid metals. The last article in this Special Issue [10] describes nano-liquid metals, a suspension of liquid metal and its alloy containing nanometer-sized particles. A room-temperature nano-liquid metal and its alloys were first introduced in the area of cooling high heat flux devices, which now is a commercial reality. However, their applications are not only in chip OPEN ACCESS

Plasmonic 2D Materials: Overview, Advancements, Future Prospects and Functional Applications

“…These liquid ingredients serve as host materials for the production of high-quality, one-kind films for innovative applications. The origin to define its development characteristics is the host materials fluidity, chemical composition, and thermodynamic properties that are the building block for examining the resultant 2D materials [51].…”

State-of-the-art surface oxide semiconductors of liquid metals: an emerging platform for development of multifunctional two-dimensional materials

“…This oxidation process is accompanied by the highest Gibb's free energy reduction in the system (DG f ). 78 Take the eutectic In-Sn alloy as an example, where the surface oxide lm is mostly made up of a indium oxide lm with 6 wt% tin oxide. The surface oxide of liquid metal alloys provides a valuable and unique opportunity to synthesize 2D alloying lms similar to the transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) lm for electronic applications.…”

2D Semiconductor Nanomaterials and Heterostructures: Controlled Synthesis and Functional Applications

“…Here, the liquid metals have the role of host material for synthesis of 2D films. With respect to the atomic structure, elemental composition, fluidity and thermodynamic of liquid metals, and furthermore, by considering the nucleation and growth characteristics of the surface oxide films, countless parameters are engaged to determine the proprieties of extracted 2D surface oxide films [ 150 ]. The low melting monophasic metal alloys are composed of post transition metals (Ga, In, Sn, Pb, Al, and Bi) and the elements of group 12 (Zn, Cd, and Hg).…”