News Chemistry

How to make tiny metal snowflakes

In molten gallium, zinc formed symmetrical, hexagonal nanostructures

A photo of a variety of zinc snowflake shapes crystallized in liquid gallium.

After heating a gallium-zinc alloy to 350° C and letting it cool for 10 days, a variety of zinc snowflake shapes crystallized in the liquid gallium.

S.A. Idrus-Saidi et al/Science 2022

By Nikk Ogasa

- More than 2 years ago

Look closely at a snowflake, and you’ll observe a one-of-a-kind gossamer lattice, its growth influenced by ambient conditions like temperature and humidity.