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Updated: Feb 2, 2026

The Preparation of Electrohydrodynamic Bridges from Polar Dielectric Liquids
Published on: September 30, 2014
Multiple Electrohydrodynamic Effects on the Morphology and Running Behavior of Tiny Liquid Metal Motors
Yue Sun1,2, Shuo Xu3,4, Sicong Tan5,6
1Beijing Key Lab of Cryo-Biomedical Engineering and Key Lab of Cryogenics, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. sunyue161@mails.ucas.ac.cn.
Abstract:
Minimized motors can harvest different types of energy and transfer them into kinetic power to carry out complex operations, such as targeted drug delivery, health care, sensing and so on. In recent years, the liquid metal motor is emerging as a very promising tiny machine. This work is dedicated to investigate the motion characteristics of self-powered liquid metal droplet machines under external electric field, after engulfing a small amount of aluminum. Two new non-dimensional parameters, named Ä and Ö , are put forward for the first time to evaluate the ratio of the forces resulting from the electric field to the fluidic viscous force and the ratio of the friction force to the fluidic viscous force. Forces exerted on liquid metal droplets, the viscosity between the droplet and the surrounding fluid, the pressure difference on both ends, the friction between the bottom of the droplet and the sink base, and bubble propulsion force are evaluated and estimated regarding whether they are impetus or resistance. Effects of electric field intensity, droplet size, solution concentration and surface roughness etc. on the morphology and running behavior of such tiny liquid metal motors are clarified in detail. This work sheds light on the moving mechanism of the liquid metal droplet in aqueous solutions, preparing for more precise and complicated control of liquid metal soft machines.
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