Earlier it was shown that some liquid metals may facilitate the cutting of hard materials, being strongly surface-active media with respect to these solids (decreasing their surface energy), e.g., Zn for steels, Cd for titanium alloys, etc. Recently, a similar physico-chemical principle has been proposed and realized in the course of active metals (Zn, Cd) depositing on the surface of a treated sample (ground tempered steel, 50 HRC) by means of reduction of their cations on a sample used as a cathode in a corresponding electrochemical cell, at room temperature, with a very small amount of active substance, and at very low current densities (∼50 mA/cm2); under such conditions, grinding is 1.5–2 times more effective than in the same aqueous solutions without current.
Room temperature CO2 reduction to solid carbon species on liquid metals featuring atomically thin ceria interfaces
