Chinese scientists have created stable droplets of liquid metal, which in the future will become the basis for a new type of robots, reminiscent of the liquid Terminator from the film of the same name by James Cameron. This is reported by ScienceAlert.
Liquid metal has potential for applications in the field of electronics and "soft" robotics (creating robots with a non-rigid structure). It is usually produced by fusing gallium, tin, and indium, but this produces a thin layer of oxides on the droplet surface, making the material sticky and unusable.
To work around this problem, the researchers developed a method to create droplets that could change their properties. To this end, they immersed pieces of liquid metal in sodium hydroxide solution for three seconds to give them a spherical shape. Then they were treated with polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), during which the particles of the latter covered the outer layer of the drops.
As a result, scientists have obtained elastic balls of metal that do not stick to the surface. The new properties allowed the droplets to roll freely at a two-degree slope and bounce off on impact.
In the future, the researchers plan to make the material react to external stimuli by changing its shape.
