Converting pure water into metal?
Water is an element widely used in scientific experiments. Indeed, perfectly pure water can be used as insulation while tap water is a conductor of electricity because of the salts and impurities it can contain. Nevertheless, researchers have managed to obtain a thin layer of metallic water of golden color on a droplet of liquid metal.
As reported by the Nature magazine, researchers from 11 institutions around the world have successfully transformed pure water into metallic or conductive water. To do this, they carried out their experiment in the Bessy II installation in Berlin. They covered alkali metals with a thin layer of water.
The process of transforming pure water into metallic water would be visible to the naked eye
Specifically, the researchers poured a sodium-potassium (Na-K) alloy drip inside a vacuum chamber. They then introduced water vapor into this vacuum chamber. This gave conductive metallic water on the surface of the metal droplet.
One of the study’s authors, Dr Robert Seidel, said the phase transition to metallic water can be observed with the naked eye. He adds that this study “ not only shows that metallic water can be produced on Earth but also characterizes the spectroscopic properties associated with its beautiful golden metallic luster “.
