Affiliation:
1. School of Chemical Engineering University of New South Wales (UNSW) Kensington NSW 2052 Australia
2. CSIRO Manufacturing Bag 10 Clayton South Victoria 3169 Australia
3. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering University of Sydney Darlington NSW 2008 Australia
4. Department of Electronic Electrical and Systems Engineering University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT UK
Abstract
AbstractExploring and controlling surface tension‐driven phenomena in liquid metals may lead to unprecedented possibilities for next‐generation microfluidics, electronics, catalysis, and materials synthesis. In pursuit of these goals, the impact of minor constituents within liquid alloys is largely overlooked. Herein, it is showed that the presence of a fraction of solute metals such as tin, bismuth, and zinc in liquid gallium can significantly influence their electrocapillarity and electrochemistry. The instability‐driven fractal formation of liquid alloy droplets is investigated with different solutes and reveals the formation of distinctive non‐branched droplets, unstable fractals, and stable fractal modes under controlled voltage and alkaline solution conditions. In their individually unique fractal morphology diagrams, different liquid alloys demonstrate significantly shifted voltage thresholds in transition between the three fractal modes, depending on the choice of the solute metal. Surface tension measurements, cycle voltammetry and surface compositional characterizations provide strong evidence that the minor alloy components drastically alter the surface tension, surface electrochemical oxidation, and oxide dissolution processes that govern the droplet deformation and instability dynamics. The findings that minor components are able to regulate liquid alloys’ surface tensions, surface element distributions and electrochemical activities offer great promises for harnessing the tunability and functionality of liquid metals.
Funder
Australian Research Council
Subject
Electrochemistry,Condensed Matter Physics,Biomaterials,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Cited by
2 articles.
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1. Controllable Flow and Manipulation of Liquid Metals;Advanced Functional Materials;2023-10-20
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