Liquid metal has the potential for application in the field of electronics and "soft" robotics (creating robots with non-rigid construction). Usually it is obtained by fusing gallium, tin and indium, but a thin layer of oxides is formed on the surface of the droplets, making the material sticky and unfit for use.
To get around this problem, the researchers developed a method for creating droplets, allowing them to change their properties. To this end, they immersed pieces of liquid metal in a solution of sodium hydroxide for three seconds to give them a spherical shape. Then they were treated with polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), during which the particles of the latter covered the outer layer of droplets.
