On March 3, a joint research group of the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Medical College of Tsinghua University, led by researcher Liu Jing, published a research paper entitled “Self-Fueled Biomimetic Liquid Metal Mollusk†(2015) on Advanced Materials. It has been quickly reported by dozens of well-known scientific journals or professional websites such as New Scientist, Nature Research Highlights, Science News, etc., which has caused important repercussions and heated discussions in the world.
For the first time in the world, this research has discovered an unusually unique phenomenon and mechanism. Liquid metal can be moved in a deformable machine for a long time after swallowing a small amount of material, realizing autonomous movement without external power. The theoretical and technical foundations have been laid for intelligent motors, vascular robots, fluid pumping systems, flexible actuators and even more complex liquid metal robots. This is another breakthrough after the group discovered the basic phenomenon of electronically controlled deformable liquid metal (Sheng et al., Advanced Materials, 2014, cover article; Zhang et al., Scientific Reports, 2014).
This liquid metal machine is completely free of the complex external power system, which is a crucial step towards the development of independent and independent flexible machines. The article was selected as the front cover story in the journal. Altmetric metrology data showed that the index had reached 71.0, which was much higher than the journal average of 6.7, and ranked No.1 in the same period.
Studies have revealed that gallium-based liquid alloys placed in electrolytes can provide energy by "ingesting" aluminum as food or fuel for high-speed, efficient long-term operation, and a small piece of aluminum can drive liquid metal spheres with a diameter of about 5 mm. Achieve continuous exercise for more than one hour at speeds up to 5cm/s. This flexible machine can move in free space and in various structural channels; surprisingly, it can also make its own deformation adjustment according to the width of the path along the path, when it encounters a turn There is a pause, it seems to continue to march after a little thought, the whole process is like the Terminator robot in the science fiction movie.
It should be said that a series of unusual habits of liquid metal machines are quite close to some simple soft organisms in nature, such as: "eat" food (fuel), self-moving, deformable, and have certain metabolic functions (chemical reactions), so The authors named it liquid metal mollusks. The invention of this artificial machine also gave rise to the question of "how to define life".
At present, the laboratory has been able to produce liquid metal machines of different sizes according to the above principles, ranging from tens of microns to several centimeters, and can be moved in different electrolyte environments such as alkaline, acidic or even neutral solutions. The experimental and theoretical analysis shows that the dynamic mechanism of this kind of autonomous liquid metal machine comes from two aspects: First, the Galvanic battery effect occurring between the liquid alloy, the metal fuel and the electrolyte will form an endogenous electric field, thereby inducing a high surface of the liquid metal. The surface tension undergoes an asymmetrical response, which in turn creates a strong thrust on a liquid metal machine that is prone to deformation; at the same time, the hydrogen generated during the above electrochemical reaction further increases the thrust. It is this dual role that produces extraordinary liquid metal motor behavior, which is also of great significance for the development of special forms of energy dynamic systems.
Autonomous movement of a deformable liquid metal machine in a container or various channels containing electrolyte
Artificial mollusks, physical motors and their driving fluids exhibited by autonomous liquid metal machines
Among the various flexible machines developed to date, the deformability, operating speed and life level exhibited by autonomous liquid metal machines are relatively rare, which adds many important uses. As one of the specific application devices, the paper also shows the first liquid metal pump that does not require external power. By confining it to the valve seat, it can achieve the purpose of self-rotating and pumping fluid, so that a large number of micro can be quickly manufactured. Pumps, such as liquid medicine, array microfluidic transport, etc., are extremely low cost; if such a flexible pump is used for cooling, a highly integrated microchip cooler can be realized; further applications can be developed into blood vessels or The channel robot is even a self-assembling liquid metal intelligent machine.
After the online publication of the above-mentioned original findings, it has attracted the attention of many scientific journals, professional websites and news media around the world in a short period of time. New Scientist reported in the first article with an article and elaborate video: "Liquid metal brings shape-shifting robot a step closer" pointed out that it "will become the artificial life in the future movie. "Such liquid robots will be a seed of artificial life seen in some movies"; Nature magazine reported on the topic of "Liquid metal motor moves by itself" in its research highlights; Science The website publishes observation articles and videos: "Shape-shifting metal motor has a variety of uses"; Reuters also specifically reported this.
There are numerous scientific journals or professional websites that report on this work, as well as Physicists' organization website: "Shape shifting liquid metal to propel itself through liquids"; Chemical and Engineering News C&EN: "Rolling Out Liquid-Metal Motors"; Uncover California: "World's First Liquid Metal Robot"; Silicon Republic: "The first Terminator liquid motor is available, with "First Terminator-1000-like liquid motor developed with unlimited potential"; Mirror mirror: "real-life-t-1000-liquid-metal-motor"; Popular Science : "Terminator-Like 'Smart Liquid Metal'May Be The First Step In A New Arms Race"; Space Daily et al: "Liquid metal robots are almost Here, and they are made in China (Liquid Metal Robots Are Almost Here and They Are Made in China); P Opular Mechanics: "The Terminator 1000 robot may be made from this liquid metal (The T-1000 Is Probably Made of This Liquid Metal That Moves Itself)"; more sites are looking forward to this groundbreaking technology The application prospects in robotics, drug delivery, vascular and environmental monitoring, and the "The Robotics Industry Is on the Verge of an Incredible Breakthrough", "obviously a huge first step ( Certainly a huge first step)", "This is a source of many potential commercial uses, and there will be great interest in industry and government around the world (That's where the potential commercial uses come in, which should be of huge interest to industry and Claims around the world)".
Everyone has seen "Terminator 2", the ability of the big villain T-1000 liquid metal robot that is almost undead is chilling.
According to preliminary statistics, hundreds of scientific or professional websites have been reviewed and reprinted in about two weeks, indicating the impact of this research work.
The advent of the self-driven liquid metal machine has led to a new concept of deformable machines that will significantly accelerate the development of flexible intelligent machines. At present, the world's research and development activities around advanced robots are in full swing. If the full potential of liquid metal is fully utilized and combined with related technologies, many machine revolutions beyond tradition will be triggered. Liu Jing's discovery of the self-driving effect of liquid metal and the corresponding machine shape has opened up a new way for the development of advanced flexible intelligent robot technology in the future, which has very important scientific significance and practical application value.
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