What if we could create metal made of water? Pure water itself is almost perfect as an insulator. Water found naturally in the world is a perfect conduit for electricity due to the impurities and minerals found within it. But water only becomes “metallic” at extremely high pressures. Now researchers have found a way to do so by metallicizing pure water using certain metals.
The process was first experimented with for a paper researchers published in July of 2021. Now, though, a group of researchers have managed to record the transformation of water into metal and shared the video on YouTube. The transformation is only made possible by bringing pure water into contact with electron-sharing alkali metals.
In this instance, the researchers used a combination alloy made of sodium and potassium and then added free-moving charged particles. To accomplish the transformation and create metal from water, the researchers exposed a drop of the alloy to a small amount of water vapor in a vacuum chamber. The water vapor then began to condense on the surface, expanding the droplet altogether.
