A composite liquid metal marble made of metal droplet coated with water film was proposed and its impact dynamics phenomenon was disclosed. After encapsulating the liquid metal into water droplets, the fabricated liquid marble successfully avoided being oxygenized by the metal fluid and thus significantly improved its many physical capabilities such as surface tension modification and shape control. The striking behaviors of the composite liquid metal marbles on a substrate at room temperature were experimentally investigated in a high speed imaging way. It was disclosed that such marbles could disintegrate, merge, and even rebound when impacting the substrate, unlike the existing dynamic fluidic behaviors of liquid marble or metal droplet. The mechanisms lying behind these features were preliminarily interpreted. This fundamental finding raised profound multiphase fluid mechanics for understanding the complex liquid composite which was also critical for a variety of practical applications such as liquid metal jet cooling, inkjet printed electronics, 3D printing or metal particle fabrication etc.

Frontiers in Energy

First online: 05 January 2016