Our friends at North Carolina State University are at it again – doing interesting things with liquid metals. You can find their new work energizing deposits of EGaIn (Eutectic Gallium/Indium) here. In this work they used voltage to control the surface tension of the material. If you aren’t familiar with EGaIn; it’s a liquid metal alloy (Indalloy#60) with some very interesting properties. Check out this video of it in action!
In other news, University of Sussex has been moving liquid metal in a different way. By forming an electrified grid, they make EGaIn deform and flow to create transient circuits. Here’s an explanation that does it more justice.
I’d love to hear your ideas if you have a use for these developments. Let’s brainstorm together!
~Jim