Yang Yunhe was lost in thought, while on the other side, Tong He had already begun to show Boss Huang this new material.
Right from the start, just as in previous experiments, sample Jiashen 1478 instantly turned into solid metal upon being electrified. Once the power was cut, it immediately reverted to a golden liquid. The entire transformation process took less than three seconds, incredibly rapid.
On the other hand, although Boss Huang had already learned about the special properties of sample Jiashen 1478 from the documents, he couldn't help but swallow his saliva when he witnessed it firsthand.
In Boss Huang's opinion, the practical value of sample Jiashen 1478 was probably not much lower than that of black gold, as it was a perfect liquid metal.
Most ordinary people's concept of liquid metal originated from the movie Terminator 2.
In that film, the Terminator, capable of freely switching from a liquid state to a robotic form, blew the minds of countless viewers. It seemed like a metal that existed only in science fiction.
However, liquid metal was actually invented in the 1960s, and it was only after James Cameron officially saw liquid metal that he incorporated the idea of liquid robots into his film.
But despite liquid metal being invented for such a long time, it had seen almost no serious applications. The key reason, naturally, was that liquid metal was not as perfect as described in the movies.
Most liquid metals invented by humans remained in a liquid state under normal conditions, exhibiting metallic properties, but they could not harden. Mercury was the best example; it was a naturally occurring liquid metal.
While such liquid metals had their uses, their applications were extremely limited.
Of course, there were some liquid metals that could harden. For instance, in 2015, researchers in China developed a liquid metal that could liquefy into metal after consuming a small amount of material, which was indeed a breakthrough for liquid metal.
However, the practical application scenarios for this hardening were actually not high. Firstly, this hardening was a one-time process; once hardened, it was difficult to revert to a liquid state.
Even if it were possible, it would require extensive chemical operations in a laboratory. In actual use, there would clearly not be enough space and time for such operations.
Furthermore, most liquid metals of this kind were not very hard after solidification, generally being softer than silver. Some were even as pliable as clay, easily kneaded into various shapes by hand.
While such flexibility could have certain applications, metals ultimately needed to be rigid to be more effective.
Now, sample Jiashen 1478 perfectly resolved this drawback. In its hardened state, its hardness even reached the level of diamond, yet it possessed the high ductility of liquid metal. These material properties were inherently perfect.
Not to mention that this material could switch between solid and liquid states at will simply by controlling its electrical state. Huang He could already envision countless applications with his eyes closed.
For example, it could be applied in the aerospace field and in various fields requiring rapid prototyping.
It could even be used in terminals, as it could solve many problems with foldable screen devices.
"Excellent, truly excellent," Boss Huang praised sincerely.
Yang Yunhe applauded alongside him. He was also impressed by the properties of this liquid metal, but he also had some reservations. In his view, this metal still had a drawback: it needed to be constantly electrified to maintain its solid state, rendering it unusable in many environments.
As if reading his mind, Boss Huang immediately asked, "Is there a way for it to maintain its solid state for a long time without being electrified?"
"Yes!" To his surprise, Tong He replied concisely, "Through our research, we found that in its liquid state, this material can begin to solidify when subjected to a radiation field. However, the process is very slow, taking about 24 hours to fully solidify. But this solidification is permanent; none of our samples have reverted to a liquid state so far."
"Good, very good!" Boss Huang's face was filled with excitement. The ability to permanently solidify would undoubtedly greatly expand the usage scenarios for sample Jiashen 1478.
But Tong He's surprises for Boss Huang were not over. Tong He continued, "During our experiments, we discovered that the properties displayed by sample Jiashen 1478 vary with the applied voltage!"
"For example, when a normal voltage of 220 volts is applied, it exhibits considerable hardness."
"However, if the applied voltage is less than 2 volts, its hardness drops to about that of graphite, but its resistance increases to an extremely high level, making it an almost non-conductive insulator!"
"Conversely, if the voltage is increased to 1000 volts, its hardness will exceed that of diamond, and its conductivity will be three times that of copper. If the voltage is increased to over 100,000 volts, we can obtain a metal with twice the hardness of diamond and a conductivity extremely close to superconductivity."
"Based on our current findings, the higher the voltage, the greater the hardness and the lower the resistance of sample Jiashen 1478. Conversely, the lower the voltage, the lower the hardness and the higher the resistance," Tong He concluded.
"So, does this mean we can directly control the material's properties by controlling the voltage applied to it?" Boss Huang licked his lips. The practical value of sample Jiashen 1478 had once again increased exponentially!
"Not only that, boss, but we made even more interesting discoveries later!" Tong He chuckled, his expression suddenly becoming more excited, like a child eager to show off a treasure.
"This was achieved using only one electrode. So, in later experiments, I had a sudden idea: what would happen if we supplied power to it using two electrodes?"
"So, I tried it!" Tong He said, manipulating another robotic arm to insert an electrode into the liquid state of sample Jiashen 1478 and then electrifying both electrodes simultaneously.
"First, we apply a voltage of 220 volts to both electrodes," Tong He stated. Sample Jiashen 1478 then began to solidify rapidly, but its subsequent reaction was almost identical to the previous one, showing the same state.
Of course, this was not what Tong He intended to show Boss Huang. So, he immediately announced, "Now, I will adjust the voltage of electrode A to 230 volts while keeping electrode B's voltage unchanged, creating a voltage difference of 10 volts between them!"
Then, a magical scene unfolded.
Sample Jiashen 1478, which had been completely still, began to vibrate. The glass container holding it also vibrated continuously. Amidst this continuous vibration, the entire sample Jiashen 1478 began to rotate slowly.
The rotation speed was not high, much slower than a donkey pulling a millstone, but undoubtedly, the entire sample Jiashen 1478 started to rotate.
Seeing this, Boss Huang's face flushed again.
Some might think that a metal rotating is not a strange thing. After all, anyone who has studied the principles of generators or electric motors knows that when a coil located in a magnetic field is energized, it begins to rotate at high speed.
Similarly, when driven by an external force, the coil cuts magnetic field lines, generating continuous electricity. This is the basic operating principle of electric motors and generators. So, the rotation of sample Jiashen 1478 was not surprising; electric motors could already achieve this.
But the miraculous and precious part lay precisely here. Centuries after the invention of the electric motor, its driving principle remained unchanged, still based on electromagnetic reactions.
However, here, although there was still electricity, there was no magnetic field.
In other words, humanity had achieved a historic breakthrough: the ability to directly drive objects simply by applying electricity, without any magnetic field. This was the truly precious aspect of this material, signifying that humanity could abandon existing electric motor structures and explore entirely new designs.
Of course, seeing the rotating sample Jiashen 1478, Huang He couldn't help but ask, "Can this thing rotate faster?"
"Yes!" Tong He nodded. "Sample Jiashen 1478 rotates internally due to the voltage difference between the two electrodes. Therefore, the greater the voltage difference between them, the faster it rotates."
"For example, if we now reduce the voltage of electrode B to 0, maintaining only a single circuit, the speed will be as follows... However, this requires a different container." As Tong He spoke, he personally entered the glass enclosure, removed the original sample, and replaced it with a disc-shaped container also filled with the golden sample Jiashen 1478.
Then, using a bearing, he fixed the container onto an iron rod, essentially simulating the state of a car tire.
Afterward, Tong He began to electrify it, and the entire sample Jiashen 1478 started to spin wildly, its speed almost indistinguishable from that of a car tire.
"Experiments have shown that at a voltage difference of 220 volts, the current maximum rotational speed of sample Jiashen 1478 can reach approximately 6,000 revolutions per minute. If the voltage difference is continuously increased, the rotational speed can also continue to increase. The fastest rotational speed we achieved in experiments was as high as 1.02 million revolutions per minute."
"However, this rotation speed only lasted for less than three seconds before the bearing could no longer withstand such high speeds, causing sample Jiashen 1478 to impact the glass shield, penetrating three layers of shielding and nearly causing a major accident!" Tong He said with lingering fear. "But one thing is undeniable: by continuously increasing the voltage, the rotational speed can be continuously increased, and it increases proportionally. This surpasses all existing electric motors!"