Reaction of Liquid Gallium with Aluminium
So, today we are going to carry out further experiments with an unusual metal - gallium. This metal has one interesting feature.
It is able to create an amalgam with another metal, such as aluminum or iron. To demonstrate this property I will conduct an experiment.
Let’s take the aluminum radiator from a computer and drip about 2 grams of liquid gallium onto it. To speed up the reaction of gallium with the aluminum, its surface was scratched with a knife.
During amalgamation, gallium penetrates the crystal lattice of the aluminum, thereby disrupting its structure.
In this case aluminum becomes very brittle like glass. I will leave the aluminum radiator to soak with gallium for a couple of days.
After 2 days we need to wash the unreacted residues of gallium from the aluminum. Now let’s check the fragility of the aluminum radiator.
As you can see, with a little effort aluminum easily starts to break in my hands. If I had left the radiator impregnated with gallium even longer it would have become even more fragile.
Now let’s conduct another experiment. Take an aluminum foil and fold it several times. Next, we need to cut it into small pieces.
And add a few drops of liquid gallium to these pieces. Now let’s start making gallium and aluminum alloy by stirring them.
Over time, you will notice that aluminum begins to dissolve in gallium and foil turns into a silver slurry.
This paste is an amalgam of aluminum and gallium which has an unusual property. When you throw it in water, it will start the generation of large quantities of hydrogen.
The reason is that when alloying of aluminum and gallium occurs gallium prevents the formation of the protective oxide film on aluminum surface.
Without it, the aluminum begins to react rapidly with water to form hydrogen and aluminum oxide. However, gallium in this reaction is not consumed.
It can be collected and reused. This property of gallium - aluminum alloy has been patented by an American company to produce hydrogen.
However, due to the high price of gallium this project never became incarnated to the masses. Stay on my channel and you'll learn some more amazing properties of Gallium metal.
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