Transformations of Liquid Metals in Ionic Liquid

TL;DR

This study investigates how liquid metals behave and transform within ionic liquids under electric fields, revealing vortex formations and flow dynamics without gas bubble formation, which could aid soft robot development.

Contribution

It provides new insights into liquid metal and ionic liquid interactions under electric fields, especially the absence of gas bubbles, enabling potential soft robot applications.

Findings

Vortex rings and flows observed in ionic liquid with liquid metal

No gas bubbles generated during experiments

Potential for encapsulating liquid systems in soft robotics

Abstract

Experimental studies were carried out on the motions and transformations of liquid metal in ionic liquid under applied electric field. The induced vortex rings and flows of ionic liquid were determined via the photographs taken sequentially over the experiments. The polarization of electric double layer of liquid metals was employed to explain the flow of ionic liquid with the presence of liquid metal. Unlike former observation of liquid metal machine in conventional solution, no gas bubble was generated throughout the whole experiments, which makes it possible to encapsulate the liquid system for fabricating soft robots.