| Title |
Gallium-Indium-Tin Alloy Properties and Treatment with Sulfuric Acid |
| Authors |
(Bo Raadam) ; (Jaeheon Lee) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.3365/KJMM.2026.64.4.312 |
| ISSN |
1738-8228(ISSN), 2288-8241(eISSN) |
| Keywords |
Galinstan; Oxidation; Properties; Sulfuric Acid Treatment |
| Abstract |
Gallium-based liquid metal alloys are often used to model high temperature metallic flows because of
the ease of materials handling and their similar properties. A Ga68.5In21.5Sn10 (wt. pct) alloy was made from the
constituent metals and various properties were measured and compared against those available in the literature,
which itself contained a variety of values. Density was found to be 6.488 ± 0.265 g/cm3, kinematic viscosity 0.474
± 0.018 cSt, and electrical conductivity 3.46*106 ± 0.09*106 S/m, all at room temperature (approximately 21 oC).
Electrical conductivity was measured using a 4-point probe that was constructed in-house using tungsten
electrodes and calibrated with Wood’s metal. Despite the non-commercial origin of the instrument, the measured
value agreed well with values reported in literature. A size-0 Ubbelohde viscometer used to measure viscosity was
calibrated with the N.4 viscosity standard, although metal alloy viscosity values were found to be above what is
typically seen in the literature. It is believed partial obstruction of the capillary by untreated oxides was
responsible for this deviation. The issue of oxidation often noted with the alloy was observed at the macroscopic
scale though it did not appear in the SEM-EDS results from inside the fluid volume. Oxidation was alleviated
by treatment with sulfuric acid at pH 0 which restored flowability in a simple and easy to scale manner. |