Self-Actuation of Liquid Metal via Redox Reaction

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• 作者：Ryan C. Gough ; Jonathan H. Dang ; Matthew R. Moorefield ; George B. Zhang ; Lloyd H. Hihara ; Wayne A. Shiroma ; Aaron T. Ohta
• 刊名：ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：January 13, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：8
• 期：1
• 页码：6-10
• 全文大小：306K
• ISSN：1944-8252

文摘

Presented here is a method for actuating a gallium-based liquid-metal alloy without the need for an external power supply. Liquid metal is used as an anode to drive a complementary oxygen reduction reaction, resulting in the spontaneous growth of hydrophilic gallium oxide on the liquid-metal surface, which induces flow of the liquid metal into a channel. The extent and duration of the actuation are controllable throughout the process, and the induced flow is both reversible and repeatable. This self-actuation technique can also be used to trigger other electrokinetic or fluidic mechanisms.