posted on 2024-01-12, 20:04authored byLiangfei Duan, Tong Zhou, Weihua Mu, Zhongshan Deng, Minghui Guo, Qin Wang, Huiqin Yang, Jing Liu
Molecules are the smallest units of matter that can exist
independently,
relatively stable, maintaining their physical and chemical activities.
The key factors that dominate the structures and properties of molecules
include atomic species, alignment commands, and chemical bonds. Herein,
we reported a generalized effect in which liquid metals can directly
cut off oxygen-containing groups in molecular matter at room temperature,
allowing the remaining groups to recombine to form functional materials.
Thus, we propose basic liquid-metal scissors for molecular directional
clipping and functional transformations. As a proof of concept, we
demonstrate the capabilities of liquid-metal scissors and reveal that
the gallium on the surface of liquid metals directly extracts oxygen
atoms from H2O or CH3OH molecules to form oxides.
After clipping, the remaining hydrogen atoms from the H2O molecules recombine to form H2, while the remaining
fragments of CH3OH produce H2, carbon materials,
and carboxylates. This finding refreshes our basic understanding of
chemistry and should lead to the development of straightforward molecular
weaving techniques, which can help to overcome the limitations of
molecular substances with single purposes. It also opens a universal
route for realizing future innovations in molecular chemical engineering,
life sciences, energy and environment research, and biomedicine.