TY - JOUR
T1 - Cytotoxicity of Gallium-Indium Liquid Metal in an Aqueous Environment
AU - Kim, Ji Hye
AU - Kim, Sungjun
AU - So, Ju Hee
AU - Kim, Kyobum
AU - Koo, Hyung Jun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2018/5/23
Y1 - 2018/5/23
N2 - Eutectic gallium-indium alloy (EGaIn) liquid metal is highly conductive, moldable, and extremely deformable and has attracted significant attention for many applications, ranging from stretchable electronics to drug delivery. Even though EGaIn liquid metal is generally known to have low toxicity, the toxicity of the metal, rather than a salt form of Ga or In, has not been systematically studied yet. In this paper, we investigate the time-dependent concentration of the ions released from EGaIn liquid metal in an aqueous environment and their cytotoxicity to human cells. It is observed that only the Ga ion is dominantly released from EGaIn when no external agitation is applied, whereas the concentration of the In ion drastically increases with sonication. The cytotoxicity study reveals that all human cells tested are viable in the growth media with naturally released EGaIn ions, but the cytotoxicity becomes significant with sonication-induced EGaIn releasates. On the basis of the comparative study with other representative toxic elements, that is, Hg and Cd, it could be concluded that EGaIn is reasonably safe to use in an aqueous environment; however, it should be cautiously handled when any mechanical agitation is applied.
AB - Eutectic gallium-indium alloy (EGaIn) liquid metal is highly conductive, moldable, and extremely deformable and has attracted significant attention for many applications, ranging from stretchable electronics to drug delivery. Even though EGaIn liquid metal is generally known to have low toxicity, the toxicity of the metal, rather than a salt form of Ga or In, has not been systematically studied yet. In this paper, we investigate the time-dependent concentration of the ions released from EGaIn liquid metal in an aqueous environment and their cytotoxicity to human cells. It is observed that only the Ga ion is dominantly released from EGaIn when no external agitation is applied, whereas the concentration of the In ion drastically increases with sonication. The cytotoxicity study reveals that all human cells tested are viable in the growth media with naturally released EGaIn ions, but the cytotoxicity becomes significant with sonication-induced EGaIn releasates. On the basis of the comparative study with other representative toxic elements, that is, Hg and Cd, it could be concluded that EGaIn is reasonably safe to use in an aqueous environment; however, it should be cautiously handled when any mechanical agitation is applied.
KW - aqueous environment
KW - cytotoxicity
KW - eutectic gallium indium
KW - ion release
KW - liquid metal
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046540464&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.8b02320
DO - 10.1021/acsami.8b02320
M3 - Article
C2 - 29715000
AN - SCOPUS:85046540464
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 10
SP - 17448
EP - 17454
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 20
ER -