Liquid metal such as T-1000 of Terminator 2 can output with 3D printer

The research team at North Carolina State University succeeded in generating liquid metal that can maintain its shape at room temperature rather than at high temperature and output it with a 3D printer. Holds the body of liquid metal that appeared in Terminator 2T-1000Technologies that could only be seen in movies like the one like this are finally becoming reality.

3D Printing of Free Standing Liquid Metal Microstructures - Ladd - 2013 - Advanced Materials - Wiley Online Library
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201301400/full

NC State News :: NC State News and Information »Researchers Build 3 - D Structures Out of Liquid Metal
http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wms-dickey-liquid-structures/

Associate Professor Michael Dickey of Department of Chemistry and Biological Materials Engineering said that liquid alloys of gallium and indium are kept at room temperature because liquid tries to change spheres in the air and it is very difficult to maintain shape We discovered that it forms something like skin that makes it possible to keep its shape in the air without destroying its structure. What does it mean? When a liquid alloy containing 75% of gallium touches the air, the gallium oxidizes and a thin film is stretched around the liquid, and this film envelops the liquid so that the liquid metal is maintained without destroying its shape You can do it.

ByShelley brunt

Research team led by Assistant Professor Dickey continued further research and succeeded in outputting gallium and indium liquid alloy using 3D printer. The feature of this liquid alloy is that you can stack small balls of liquid metal on top like a stacked orange on the supermarket. Grains of liquid metal stick to each other, but maintaining their respective shapes does not result in two balls getting together.

You can check how the granular liquid metal is stacked using the 3D printer from the following movie.

3D Printing of Liquid Metals at Room Temperature - YouTube


Three liquid metal balls were output from the nozzle of the 3D printer, and arranged side by side. Balls keep a spherical shape without collapsing as they are liquid, despite liquids.


I will lay some more balls on three balls. Liquid metal balls stick together but maintain shape without being assimilated into one.


Next we will set up a new ball between two vertically stacked liquid metal balls.


Balls swollen with puffs ......


I stuck between the balls arranged vertically.


I will pile the liquid metal balls upwards and steadily.


Eventually it looked like a tower. The series of work is done without applying high temperature heat.


Using technology developed by Assistant Professor Dickey, it is also possible to create objects using liquid metal.


Spherical liquid metal is piled up like a worm of insects.


Dickey's research team has also succeeded in creating liquid metal wires.


Liquid metal wires can stand upright perpendicular to the plane.


Liquid metal retaining shape at room temperatureElectric conductorIt is said that there is a possibility that it will be used as a wire for connecting parts of electronic equipment. In order to output a liquid metal that does not destroy the shape with a 3D printer, a special process of continuing to apply the same amount of pressure is necessary, so in reality it outputs a complex structure like the T - 1000 It is not realistic yet, but I'd like to expect the future development.