Cytotoxicity of Gallium-Indium Liquid Metal in Aqueous Environment.

Title Cytotoxicity of Gallium-Indium Liquid Metal in Aqueous Environment.
Authors J.H. Kim; S. Kim; J.H. So; K. Kim; H.J. Koo
Journal ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
DOI 10.1021/acsami.8b02320
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 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 the human cells tested are viable in the growth media with naturally released EGaIn ions, but the cytotoxicity becomes significant with sonication-induced EGaIn releasates. Based on the comparative study with other representative toxic elements, i.e., 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.

Citation J.H. Kim; S. Kim; J.H. So; K. Kim; H.J. Koo.Cytotoxicity of Gallium-Indium Liquid Metal in Aqueous Environment.. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018. doi:10.1021/acsami.8b02320

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