Researchers from North Carolina State University have
developed three-dimensional (3-D) printing technology and techniques to create
free-standing structures made of liquid metal at room temperature.
“It’s difficult to create structures out of liquids, because
liquids want to bead up. But we’ve found that a liquid metal alloy of gallium
and indium reacts to the oxygen in the air at room temperature to form a ‘skin’
that allows the liquid metal structures to retain their shapes,” says Dr.
Michael Dickey, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering
at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the work.