A Safer Alternative for the Mercury Beating Heart Demonstration

• Bingxing Wang ^[1] ; Xiaoying Jiang ^[1] ; Yu Zhang ^[1] ; Lu Yu ^[1] ; Yuping Zhang ^[1]
  1. [1] Henan Institute of Science and Technology, China
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 99, Nº 2, 2022, págs. 1095-1099
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The mercury beating heart is a classic demonstration to introduce redox reactions in the classroom. Here we report a new, safer demonstration: the Galinstan beating heart. Galinstan is a commercially available eutectic alloy composed of gallium (68.5%), indium (21.5%), and tin (10%) that has low toxicity. When an iron nail touches the Galinstan drop in a sulfuric acid solution, a steady beating heart behavior is observed. The mechanism of the Galinstan beating heart was attributed to electron transfer from the Galinstan drop to the iron nail, which induces a charge redistribution and an interfacial tension gradient on the drop.