I have seen youtube videos of people treating some aluminium object with liquid gallium and after letting it sit for a while, they are able to break up the aluminium into tiny little pieces with their bare hands.
Can someone tell me what is exactly going? I haven't been able to find a satisfactory explanation as of yet.
Does the gallium somehow incorporate itself into the metal lattice, disrupting the bonds? or is it forming an amalgam of sorts and actually dissolving the aluminium?
Is it a combination of these two, or are my ideas off completely? Also, what would be the exact mechanics of a process like this?
EDIT: How exactly does gallium "unzip" the grain boundaries? Also, besides Ga or Hg, what other metals would produce a similar effect? What mechanism/property allows them to behave in such a manner?