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A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction
Published on: January 26, 2016
Liquid Metal Molecular Medicine
Peimeng Wu1,2, Liangfei Duan3, Jing Liu1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Cryogenic Science and Technology and Beijing Key Lab of CryoBiomedicine, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Biomolecules are central to disease onset, diagnosis, and treatment, yet materials capable of actively interacting with biological targets remain limited. Gallium-based liquid metals and their derivative composites possess a metallic liquid core, a dynamic oxide interface, and releasable metal species, which support diverse molecular interactions and regulatory processes. However, current advances remain scattered across different biomedical applications and are often discussed mainly from a materials perspective. Here, we propose liquid metal molecular medicine (LMMM) as an interdisciplinary framework that connects liquid-metal active components and molecular mechanisms with biomedical functions. This Review outlines the mechanistic basis of LMMM and organizes current research into eight subfields: molecular diagnostics, targeted drug delivery, nucleic-acid regulation and prospects, antibiosis, immunology, enzymology, cell repair, and regenerative medicine. By interpreting these applications from the perspective of molecular interactions, LMMM complements existing application-centered reviews and highlights the distinctive role of liquid metals as active molecular interfaces. Key scientific and translational challenges are also discussed.

