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Updated: Jul 25, 2026

A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction
Published on: January 26, 2016
Electrically tunable resistance of a metal
M Sagmeister1, U Brossmann, S Landgraf
1Institut für Materialphysik, Technische Universität Graz, Petersgasse 16, A-8010 Graz, Austria.
Abstract:
Electric field-induced tuning of material properties is usually restricted to nonmetals such as semiconductors and piezoelectric ceramics. We show that variations of the electrical resistance of a metal (Pt) in the range of several percent can be reversibly induced at low charging voltages making use of a nanocrystallite-electrolyte composite. The charge-induced resistance variation is analyzed taking into account the modification of the charge carrier density and scattering rate by surface charging. The contribution arising from the charge-induced variation of the lattice constant is found to be small.
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