Cytotoxicity of Gallium-Indium Liquid Metal in an Aqueous Environment

Ji Hye Kim, Sungjun Kim, Ju Hee So, Kyobum Kim, Hyung Jun Koo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

193 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17448-17454
Number of pages7
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume10
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 May 2018

Keywords

  • aqueous environment
  • cytotoxicity
  • eutectic gallium indium
  • ion release
  • liquid metal

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