Characterization of liquid-metal Galinstan® for droplet applications

Author

Liu, Tingyi Leo ; Sen, Prosenjit ; Kim, Chang-Jin CJ

Author_Institution

Univ. of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), CA, USA

fYear

2010

fDate

24-28 Jan. 2010

Firstpage

560

Lastpage

563

Abstract

We report our characterization of nontoxic liquid-metal alloy Galinstan^Â® on its potential for substituting mercury droplets in miniature devices. To combat the super fast oxidation, which has been hindering the studies of Galinstan^Â® our entire experiments are performed in a nitrogen-filled glove box. Galinstan^Â® droplets are found to behave like a true liquid, indicating a good liquid-air interface, only if the oxygen traces stay below 1 ppm. Surface tension of Galinstan^Â® is measured to be 534.6Â±Â±10.7 mN/m in nitrogen at 28Â°C using a pendant drop method. Advancing/receding contact angles on glass and Teflon surfaces are found to be 146.8Â°/121.5Â° and 161.2Â°/144.4Â°, respectively. The electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) mechanism of Galinstan^Â® is also demonstrated.

Keywords

contact angle; eutectic alloys; gallium alloys; indium alloys; liquid metals; surface tension; tin alloys; wetting; GaInSn; SiO₂; contact angles; dielectric mechanism; droplet applications; electrowetting; liquid metal Galinstan; liquid-air interface; mercury droplets; nitrogen-filled glove box; oxidation; pendant drop method; surface tension; temperature 28 degC; Bonding; Dielectric measurements; Difference equations; Gallium alloys; Glass; Gravity; Micromechanical devices; Nitrogen; Oxidation; Surface tension;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), 2010 IEEE 23rd International Conference on

Conference_Location

Wanchai, Hong Kong

ISSN

1084-6999

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-5761-8

Electronic_ISBN

1084-6999

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.2010.5442440

Filename

5442440