Multi-element GB (official)

really! now that sounds interesting!
i remember the warning on the newer cpu-heat-compound, that liquid metal, which i guess is a gallium alloy. only for use on copper, not on aluminum. they are working on that, though.. hehe

manuel

Sorry guys about not replying sooner, I have been very busy recently.

styropyro said:

I got mine a couple minutes ago! I melted the indium into an ingot so I could feel how soft it really was. The gallium came melted to the bag.

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I am sorry about this; if this is a problem for anyone, I found a solution: Put the bag of gallium in the freezer, and take it out a couple of hours later. You can flake out all of the gallium if it is stuck to the bag to recover all of it. Sorry for the poor foresight here.

Hemlock_Mike said:

Does Gallium plate to glass ??

Mike

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Yes, it definitely does. I would keep gallium away from glass if I were you. Use plastic containers and Ziploc baggies.

styropyro said:

Nooo! I set my ingot of gallium next to my ingot of indium...and they mixed. I was able to salvage the indium as a pure ingot, but now my gallium is contaminated and melts way faster than it did before. It is even barely liquidy at room temp.

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I am sorry to hear. I made the same mistake with mine as well, and it was pretty frustrating. You can possibly react them with an acid, which would form their salts, and dissolve them in a solvent if they have different solubilities. From there, you could try to separate them using either replacement with magnesium powder or electroplating. I know it's complicated, but I think it would work.

Hemlock_Mike said:

I put my Ga into a glass bottle and it is a mirror with a liquid core!

Mike

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If this is an effect you do not want, you could try the freezing trick and scrape the gallium off the sides. You can probably recover most of it.

--

I hope that you guys are all enjoying your elements! Some shipments have been delayed due to packaging issues, and these will be shipped out as soon as possible, as well as those who ordered the leftover elements. Sorry about the trouble guys.

-nvme
-dingle
-LiveRock

I will get your packages out ASAP.

-Mark

Remaining elements:

-2 grams gallium
-10 grams indium
-1 pound bismuth
-10 grams selenium
-10 grams tellurium

Prices will be the same as quoted before.

Also, I have some vanadium and manganese if you are interested. PM me for prices.

-Mark

Krutz said:

really! now that sounds interesting!
i remember the warning on the newer cpu-heat-compound, that liquid metal, which i guess is a gallium alloy. only for use on copper, not on aluminum. they are working on that, though..

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As far as i know gallium can under some circumstances damage the aluminiums oxide coat, though it doesnt dig in an catalyze complete destruction like mercury can.

I wonder about the gallium compound for cpu heatsinks though: I would imagine the cpu would heat it well over melting temperature quickly, but wouldn't it then start to solder the cpu onto the heatsink? Sounds very good for heat transfer, but ever seperating the two again would become a challenge

Nooo! I set my ingot of gallium next to my ingot of indium...and they mixed. I was able to salvage the indium as a pure ingot, but now my gallium is contaminated and melts way faster than it did before. It is even barely liquidy at room temp.

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It'll do that... if you mix up about 65% gallium with 20% indium and 15% tin, you'll have an alloy that is liquid at room temperature and slightly below (melting point 10 to 12 centigrade). But even without the tin, 75/25 mixtures should have melting points around room temp.

Separating the metals would be very difficult really, perhaps it would be better to make a cool liquid metal at room temp from what you have now, and order new gallium if you want to have it pure.

Chemical seperation would be quite complex as both are group-13 elements, and approaches like fractional freezing impossible because you will end up with eutectic mixtures quite quickly. Industrially its doable, but i doubt you'd stand a chance with home kit.

my cpu-"paste" is liquid at roomtemperature. a small drop onto the die, then spread it out (like soldering). in fact i have it on for two years now, i think. tried to remove the heatsink some weeks ago, absolutely impossible! hehe
which is bad, since its a watercooler. i dont think i will be able to give the board or cpu away once i upgrade..

i heard gallium even sticks/stains skin? how bad is it?

will have to experiment with this cpu-alloy, mercury and aluminum some day.. hehe

manuel

any updates on shipment?

Elements arrived safely in Belgium, Europe yesterday
Gallium is really good fun to play with. It came liquid in its baggie but I dragged it through some cold water for a short while and it turned into a nice metal plate. I will soon be making a custom mirror with it for my projection beam speaker.
Bismuth is nice and heavy in funny looking droplets. I haven't had the time to make crystals yet but I have done it twice before at school so when I get the time within a week I will probably be uploading some nice pics of big crystals!
Tellurium is really beautiful (thanks for the extra .4 grams btw) and my previous chemistry teacher's finger now smells of garlic since he insisted on trying out its fabled smelly features. I think I will keep it very safe from others if even a teacher cannot be trusted with it

Thanks for the great GB!

Seb

Jaseth said:

Tellurium is really beautiful (thanks for the extra .4 grams btw) and my previous chemistry teacher's finger now smells of garlic since he insisted on trying out its fabled smelly features. I think I will keep it very safe from others if even a teacher cannot be trusted with it

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haha sounds like a great teacher!
and yes, i think i would, for science's sake.. hehe

manuel

Jaseth said:

Bismuth is nice and heavy in funny looking droplets. I haven't had the time to make crystals yet but I have done it twice before at school so when I get the time within a week I will probably be uploading some nice pics of big crystals!

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Please share! Are bismuth crystals easy to make? What tips do you have? I want to make my bismuth crystal making experience as easy as possible.
Thanks!

any updates on the delayed shipments?

Have you ship my order? If so, I will keep an lookout for it...

Thanks!

All orders have been shipped- some international packages were delayed because they had to be redone. It's all taken care of now, sorry for the delays guys. All shipped by Priority Mail, unless something restricted me from doing so.

-Mark

Have you shipped my leftover gallium too?

Sorry for the delay on the bismuth crystals guys.. I am deep into moving to a new country so my internet and fun time is extremely limited.

However I can just give some brief tips on growing crystals:
Use an electric heat plate with very precise temperature settings.
Melt in CLEAN metal pot.
Slowly melt just a few degress over melting point.
When all is melted, skim off the top which will have an odd colour and put this aside.
Adjust temperature to just under melting point (1-2 degrees would be best).
After you adjust down the temperature, drop tiny bit of solid bismuth into the melted bismuth.
Let it slowly cool and harden while often tapping the pot - when the surface begins to look solid (almost no ripples when tapping) pour the rest of the melted bismuth into another pot - if you leave it it will just cover your crystal when it hardens.
Let the crystal cool completely.
Gently break it off the pot and gently chip off any spills on the crystal.

Hope it helps

Seb

Grix said:

Have you shipped my leftover gallium too?

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Yes, all standard and late-order packages have been shipped.

-Mark

Sorry I haven't posted sooner. Package arrived and I was very pleased with the elements contained within. Thank you so very much Mark, you are the greatest!

Bob