Will liquid metal 3D printing change our future? Imagine you could pullout anything from your 3D printer in metal, it’s the ultimate gearbox, replacement tool or your own Terminator.
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed 3D 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 bimolecular engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the work.
The work was "potentially revolutionary," said Jason Heikenfeld, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Cincinnati, who was not involved in the research. "Folks have tried to work with liquid metal for some time - some of us when we were younger would break up a thermometer and you'd see liquid metal - mercury - go all over the place," he said.
"It was evidence that although these materials have a significant upside, in terms of what you can do with them, they are extremely challenging to work with." Flexible electronics are starting to emerge, with companies such as Samsung, LG and Nokia experimenting with bendy displays for phones and televisions. But this technology was not stretchable - something you could achieve when you involved liquid metals, said Dr Heikenfeld.
"Stretchable is a whole other game because you're now talking about wearable and conformable". He added that the recent research also addressed another important issue of using liquid metals - toxicity. Unlike mercury, the gallium and indium alloy was safe, he said.
The incredibly thin oxide layer, however, seems to be working quite well. One of the more unusual tests of the process involved printing metal antennae on an insect.
