Aug 31, 2016 | By Alec
Who says metal needs to be solid to be functional? A team of researchers from the Institute of Physical and Chemical Technology (of CAS, the Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Tsinghua University have just proven that the opposite can be true as well. As part of their studies on wire oscillation effects and liquid metals, they have harnessed a liquid metal jumping phenomenon to build a self-driven miniature vehicle with deforming liquid metal wheels.
This is a huge breakthrough that will definitely speed up the development of flexible machinery and robotics, while it can also be used to develop drug delivery systems and control switches for electrical, mechanical and optical systems. While liquid metal machines generally rely on pure liquid materials, this Chinese breakthrough actually combines solid and liquid metals, with the metal particles triggering the jumping effect. This is perfectly illustrated by this cool little metal vehicle, that is coated in a functional magnetic layer and features liquid metal wheels that push themselves forward through this jumping phenomenon.
This remarkable breakthrough has already been published in numerous sources. In their paper ‘Liquid Metal Machine Triggered Violin-like Wire Oscillator’, published in the Advanced Science journal, the researchers reported on the unusual self-oscillation effect that their blend of liquid and solid metals exhibited. When treated copper wire touched the metal liquid containing aluminum particles, the wire was quickly swallowed into the liquid blob. The blob subsequently started shuffling back and forth over the surface of the liquid metal manufacturing machine – just like a harp stick moving over the strings while playing music.
'Liquid Metal Machine Triggered Violin-like Wire Oscillator'
What’s more, stainless steel wires can also trigger this oscillation behavior through AM and FM manipulation. The underlying mechanism beneath this weird phenomenon is essentially the reaction of the aluminum and alkali solution to the ends of the liquid metal wires. The dynamic coupling of copper, liquid metal, electrolytes and hydrogen essentially causes rhythmic traction.
The researchers further elaborated on their discovery in the paper ‘Jumping Liquid Metal Droplet in Electrolyte Triggered by Solid Metal Particles’, published in Applied Physics Letters. As they explained, the stationary solution would begin to jump up and down and leave a series of footprints around by adding solid metal particles to a solution containing metal droplets. They discovered that when the metal particles touch the surface of the liquid metal, the electric field on the surface is significantly enhanced and produces hydrogen through electrolysis. Hydrogen bubbles are formed at the bottom and continue to adsorb and grow into a ‘gas spring’, which provides the necessary thrust. Aside from the galvanic effect between the liquid and solid metals, this process is supported by the microstructure differences between the two materials – which leads to charge accumulation.
Jumping Liquid Metal Droplet in Electrolyte Triggered by Solid Metal Particles
The Chinese researchers are currently working hard to develop various applications for this discovery, and actually showcased a potential a drug delivery system in a paper entitled ‘Self-Propelled Liquid Metal Motors Steered by Magnetic or Electrical Field for Drug Delivery’, a 2016 cover story in Journal of Materials Chemistry B (4, 5349). In that paper, they described how they could harness the ‘jumping mechanism’ with an ferromagnetic nickel layer embedded into the liquid metal. This allows them to gain control over the mechanism, allowing them to start, stop, steer, and accelerate the behavior.
Self-Propelled Liquid Metal Motors Steered by Magnetic or Electrical Field for Drug Delivery
What’s more, they also developed a kind of flexible deformable ‘wheels’ that drive a miniature vehicle that is 3D printed in plastic and metal. In the created electrical field, the ‘wheel’ rotates and deforms – driving the vehicle forward and even allowing for acceleration. Currently reaching speeds of 25 mm per second, it’s a concept that can definitely be transferred to more complex applications.
Liquid Metal Wheeled Small Vehicle for Cargo Delivery
While this innovation is thus still under development, the CAS team led by Liu Jing has realized a huge breakthrough. It is the result of liquid metal research that has been ongoing for more than ten years, with an eye on chip cooling, advanced manufacturing and electronic, biomedical and flexible machinery applications. The research is partly funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with liquid metal being seen as a key frontier technology for future breakthroughs.
Posted in 3D Printing Technology
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