Episode 10: Gallium-based liquid metal manipulated without physical contact

MRS Bulletin Materials News Podcast

In this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Michael Dickey from North Carolina State University about his work manipulating liquid gallium. When submerged in an aqueous solution, liquid gallium will form a sphere. When fed by gravity through a thin nozzle that is surrounded by aqueous solution, it will instead flow into the shape of a wire. Passing an electrical current through the liquid metal wire means that a magnetic field is created, which means the wire can be shaped using external magnets, following the Lorentz force. This research was published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (doi:10.1073/pnas.2117535119).