Liquid metal cooled reactor Clementine was the first liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor and used mercury coolant, thought to be the obvious choice since it is liquid at room temperature. However, because of disadvantages including high toxicity, high vapor pressure even at room temperature, low boiling point, producing noxious fumes when heated, relatively low thermal conductivity, and a high neutron cross-section, it has fallen out of favor. Sodium and NaK (a eutectic sodium-potassium alloy) do not corrode steel to any significant degree and are compatible with many nuclear fuels, allowing for a wide choice of structural materials. They do, however, ignite spontaneously on contact
Liquid metal imbalance of the surface tension induces a pressure difference between the rear and the head, which produces a thrust to drive the droplet toward the head; at the same time, the hydrogen produced in the electrochemical reaction process also further raises the thrust. The discovery of this phenomenon laid the technical foundation for the development of intelligent motors, vascular robots, fluid pumping systems, flexible actuators and even more complex liquid metal robots. Liquid metal Liquid metal consists of alloys with very low melting points which form a eutectic that is liquid at room temperature. The standard metal used to be