Liquid metal is a new type of alloy material. Under the low-temperature smelting preparation process, different metal materials are fully fused according to a certain ratio and controlled by temperature to form a new metal material (also can be understood as surface process treatment) method).
Liquid metal can be regarded as a mixture composed of positive ion fluid and free electron gas. Liquid metal is also a kind of amorphous and fluid metal. It is a general term for a series of low melting point metals and alloy materials. It is liquid and fluid at room temperature or at a lower heating temperature. It has strong electrical conductivity and high hardness. , corrosion resistance, high thermal conductivity and high wear resistance.
Liquidmetal alloys have many desirable material properties, including high tensile strength, excellent corrosion resistance, very high coefficient of restitution and excellent anti-wear properties, while also being thermoformable in a process similar to thermoplastics.
The strength of liquid metal is more than 10 times that of magnesium and aluminum alloys, more than 2 times that of stainless steel and titanium alloys; the hardness is also more than 10 times that of magnesium and aluminum alloys, and more than 1.5 times that of stainless steel and titanium alloys. The density is moderate, lighter than stainless steel, and slightly heavier than titanium alloys. The above characteristics determine that liquid metal will become the third-generation new material for 3C products after engineering plastics and light alloys. A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is ready to take off, and one of the breakthroughs is new materials. As one of the super materials that will dominate the future high-tech competition, liquid metal is expected to give birth to a trillion-scale blue ocean.
At present, there are three main directions for liquid metal technology reserves. The first is ribbon, which is relatively mature; the second is bulk amorphous; and the other is to make powder. The powder has two purposes, one is surface coating, which has functions such as wear resistance and anti-corrosion, and the other is 3D printing.