The Promising Features of New Nano Liquid Metals—Liquid Sodium Containing Titanium Nanoparticles (LSnanop)

Abstract

Abstract:A new kind of suspension liquid was developed by dispersing Ti nanoparticles (10 nm) in liquid Na, which was then determined by TEM (transmission electron microscopy) analysis. The volume fraction was estimated to be 0.0088 from the analyzed Ti concentration (2 at. %) and the densities of Ti and Na. This suspension liquid, Liquid Sodium containing nanoparticles of titanium (LSnanop), shows, despite only a small addition of Ti nanoparticles, many striking features, namely a negative deviation of 3.9% from the ideal solution for the atomic volume, an increase of 17% in surface tension, a decrease of 11% for the reaction heat to water, and the suppression of chemical reactivity to water and oxygen. The decrease in reaction heat to water seems to be derived from the existence of excess cohesive energy of LSnanop. The excess cohesive energy was discussed based on simple theoretical analyses, with particular emphasis on the screening effect. The suppression of reactivity is discussed with the relation to the decrease of heat of reaction to water or the excess cohesive energy, surface tension, the action as a plug of Ti oxide, negative adsorption on the surface of LSnanop, and percolation.

Some Issues in Liquid Metals Research

“…Liquids containing particles of nm size (nano-fluids) have attracted considerable attention with the goal of obtaining excellent thermal conductors [10]. Nano-fluids are interesting due to the fact that the poor thermal conductivity of a fluid (or liquid) medium can be supplemented by the high thermal conductivity of the suspended nanoparticles.…”

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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]).

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“…Nano-fluids are interesting due to the fact that the poor thermal conductivity of a fluid (or liquid) medium can be supplemented by the high thermal conductivity of the suspended nanoparticles. In paper [10], the authors review of the preparation, physicochemical properties, and the suppression of chemical reactivity to water and oxygen of LSnanop (Liquid Sodium containing nanoparticles of titanium). The presence of small amounts of Ti nanoparticles (2% as the atomic % of Ti, 6.92 × 10 −7 as the number fraction of Ti nanoparticles, and 0.0088 as their volume fraction) makes physicochemical properties change considerably, compared to liquid Na.…”