Editing Gallium (section)

===Galinstan and other alloys===
[[File:Galinstan on glass.jpg|thumb|Galinstan easily wetting a piece of ordinary glass]]
[[File:Gallium alloy 3D prints (26519727708).jpg|thumb|Owing to their low melting points, gallium and its alloys can be shaped into various 3D forms using [[3D printing]] and [[additive manufacturing]].]]
Gallium readily [[alloy]]s with most metals, and is used as an ingredient in [[low-melting alloy]]s. The nearly [[eutectic]] alloy of gallium, [[indium]], and [[tin]] is a room temperature liquid used in medical thermometers. This alloy, with the trade-name ''[[Galinstan]]'' (with the "-stan" referring to the tin, {{Lang|la|stannum}} in Latin), has a low melting point of −19&nbsp;°C (−2.2&nbsp;°F).<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s00216-005-0069-7|date=Nov 2005|author=Surmann, P|author2=Zeyat, H|title=Voltammetric analysis using a self-renewable non-mercury electrode|volume=383|issue=6|pages=1009–13|issn=1618-2642|pmid=16228199|journal=Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry|s2cid=22732411}}</ref> It has been suggested that this family of alloys could also be used to cool computer chips in place of water, and is often used as a replacement for [[Thermal grease|thermal paste]] in high-performance computing.<ref>{{cite web|title= Hot chips chilled with liquid metal|date= 5 May 2005|first= Will|last= Knight|url= https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7348|access-date= 20 November 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070211083832/https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7348|archive-date= 11 February 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://domino.research.ibm.com/library/cyberdig.nsf/papers/AD9B6F5D509CEB3D85257372004FC2C3/$File/rc24372.pdf|title=High Performance Liquid Metal Thermal Interface for Large Volume Production|last=Martin|first=Yves|access-date=20 November 2019|archive-date=9 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200309123838/https://domino.research.ibm.com/library/cyberdig.nsf/papers/AD9B6F5D509CEB3D85257372004FC2C3/$File/rc24372.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Gallium alloys have been evaluated as substitutes for mercury [[dental amalgam]]s, but these materials have yet to see wide acceptance.  Liquid alloys containing mostly gallium and indium have been found to precipitate gaseous CO<sub>2</sub> into solid carbon and are being researched as potential methodologies for [[Carbon capture and storage|carbon capture]] and possibly [[Carbon dioxide removal|carbon removal]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Technology solidifies carbon dioxide – ASME |url=https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/gallium-turns-co2-into-solid |access-date=5 September 2022 |website=www.asme.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=New way to turn carbon dioxide into coal could 'rewind the emissions clock' |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/liquid-metal-catalyst-turns-carbon-dioxide-coal |access-date=5 September 2022 |website=www.science.org |language=en}}</ref>

Because gallium [[wetting|wets]] glass or [[porcelain]], gallium can be used to create brilliant [[mirror]]s. When the wetting action of gallium-alloys is not desired (as in Galinstan glass thermometers), the glass must be protected with a transparent layer of [[gallium(III) oxide]].<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2EZSAAAAMAAJ|title= Liquid-metals handbook|publisher= U.S. Govt. Print. Off.|date= 1954 |author= United States. Office of Naval Research. Committee on the Basic Properties of Liquid Metals, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission|page= 128}}</ref>

Due to their high [[surface tension]] and [[fluid mechanics|deformability]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Mohammad Rashed |last2=Eaker |first2=Collin B. |last3=Bowden |first3=Edmond F. |last4=Dickey |first4=Michael D. |title=Giant and switchable surface activity of liquid metal via surface oxidation |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=30 September 2014 |volume=111 |issue=39 |pages=14047–14051 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1412227111 |doi-access=free |pmid=25228767 |bibcode=2014PNAS..11114047K |pmc=4191764 }}</ref> gallium-based liquid metals can be used to create [[actuator]]s by controlling the surface tension.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Russell |first1=Loren |last2=Wissman |first2=James |last3=Majidi |first3=Carmel |title=Liquid metal actuator driven by electrochemical manipulation of surface tension |journal=Applied Physics Letters |date=18 December 2017 |volume=111 |issue=25 |doi=10.1063/1.4999113 |bibcode=2017ApPhL.111y4101R |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liao |first1=Jiahe |last2=Majidi |first2=Carmel |title=Soft actuators by electrochemical oxidation of liquid metal surfaces |journal=Soft Matter |date=2021 |volume=17 |issue=7 |pages=1921–1928 |doi=10.1039/D0SM01851A |pmid=33427274 |bibcode=2021SMat...17.1921L }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liao |first1=Jiahe |last2=Majidi |first2=Carmel |title=Muscle-Inspired Linear Actuators by Electrochemical Oxidation of Liquid Metal Bridges |journal=Advanced Science |date=September 2022 |volume=9 |issue=26 |pages=e2201963 |doi=10.1002/advs.202201963 |pmid=35863909 |pmc=9475532 }}</ref> Researchers have demonstrated the potentials of using liquid metal actuators as [[artificial muscles|artificial muscle]] in robotic actuation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liao |first1=Jiahe |last2=Majidi |first2=Carmel |last3=Sitti |first3=Metin |title=Liquid Metal Actuators: A Comparative Analysis of Surface Tension Controlled Actuation |journal=Advanced Materials |date=January 2024 |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=e2300560 |doi=10.1002/adma.202300560 |pmid=37358049 |bibcode=2024AdM....3600560L |hdl=20.500.11850/641439 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last= Liao|first= Jiahe|date= 2022|title= Liquid metal actuators|url= https://kilthub.cmu.edu/authors/Jiahe_Liao/4939036|degree= Ph.D.|publisher= Carnegie Mellon University}}</ref>

The [[plutonium]] used in [[plutonium pit|nuclear weapon pits]] is stabilized in the [[allotropes of plutonium|δ phase]] and made machinable by [[Plutonium–gallium alloy|alloying with gallium]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Sublette, Cary |title=Section 6.2.2.1 |date=9 September 2001 |work=Nuclear Weapons FAQ |url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq6.html#nfaq6.2 |access-date=24 January 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title= Thermochemical Behavior of Gallium in Weapons-Material-Derived Mixed-Oxide Light Water Reactor (LWR) Fuel|first= Theodore M.|last= Besmann|journal= Journal of the American Ceramic Society|volume= 81|pages= 3071–3076 |date= 2005 |doi= 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1998.tb02740.x |issue= 12|url= https://zenodo.org/record/1230603}}</ref>