Study: Researchers convert water into shiny golden metal under territorial circumstances

Researchers have converted a water droplet into shiny, metallic gold. The researchers developed a method that has allowed them to prepare metallic water while completely sidestepping the need for high pressure. The water stayed in a metallic state for only a few seconds, but the experiment did not require the high pressures which are normally needed to convert non-metallic materials into electrically conductive metals.

Water droplet turns into metallic gold 

The researchers at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague succeeded in keeping water at a metallic state. The study conducted by the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague has been published in Nature (scientific journal). According to the study, insulating materials can be made metallic by applying pressure. In the case of pure water, it is estimated to require a pressure of 48 megabar, which is beyond current experimental capabilities. Researchers have shown that a metallic water solution can be prepared by massive doping with electrons upon reacting water with alkali metals. According to the news release of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the required pressure of 50 Mbar i.e. approximately 50 million times greater than on the surface of Earth can be found in the cores of large planets. The researchers, however, were able to turn water into gold-coloured metallic water solution under terrestrial conditions.

The explosive behaviour of the water-alkali metal reaction can be suppressed by adsorbing water vapour at a low pressure of about 10−4 millibar onto liquid sodium. The researchers ejected potassium alloy drops into a vacuum chamber. The researchers used the syringe to form droplets of the metal mixture and exposed them to small amounts of water vapour, The water condensed onto each droplet and formed a layer one-tenth of a micrometre thick. 

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