Metal aesthetics of metallic jewelry. Some metals have specialized uses; mercury is a liquid at room temperature and is used in switches to complete a circuit when it flows over the switch contacts. Radioactive metals such as uranium and plutonium are used in nuclear power plants to produce energy via nuclear fission. Shape memory alloys are used for applications such as pipes, fasteners and vascular stents. Metals can be doped with foreign molecules—organic, inorganic, biological and polymers. This doping entails the metal with new properties that are induced by the guest molecules. Applications in catalysis, medicine, electrochemical cells, corrosion and more
Liquid metal embrittlement of third elements to the liquid metal may increase or decrease the embrittlement and alters the temperature region over which embrittlement is seen. Metal combinations which form intermetallic compounds do not cause LME. There are a wide variety of LME couples. Most technologically important are the LME of aluminum and steel alloys. Alloying of the solid metal alters its LME. Some alloying elements may increase the severity while others may prevent LME. The action of the alloying element is known to be segregation to grain boundaries of the solid metal and alteration of the grain boundary properties. Accordingly, maximum LME