Scientists from the University of North Florida and Northeastern University had developed a process that allows two metals together at room temperature. This item is called "MesoGlue" and is set to replace soldering as this allows formation of metal bond without heat.
The team of material scientists dubs MesoGlue as a revolutionary joining solution that lets you attach items together with a metal bond, at room temperature. The entire process involves engineered nanorods that interlock. When these nanorods are interlocked together, the shell then liquefies and then bonds the two sides together. The liquid alloy resulting from this process squishes the interlocked nanorods, solidifying the bond. Even without heat in the process, the connected surface can still withstand high temperatures.
Soldering is a science and art that is around for over a thousand of years. It requires skill and precision in order to be effective. Soldering has been the essential component in electronics. However, it has one drawback that disallows delicate materials to be subjected to soldering because they are damaged in high temperatures. MesoGlue should fix this problem by being a conductive glue in a room temperature.
"When indium and galium touch each other, they form a liquid; The metal core of the rods acts to turn that liquid into a solid. The resulting glue provides the strength and thermal/electrical conductance of a metal bond," Northeastern's Hanchen Huang explains in a Q&A.
The metallic glue also dissipates heart even more efficiently than the thermal grease. Thermal grease is a material that "connects" the spaces between electrical components and heat sinks to transfer the heat from the latter to the former. According to the tests, MesoGlue is 8 C lower on average compared to the traditional thermal paste.
Soldering with lead is still a cheaper solution because lead in the first place is not expensive. It is expected that MesoGlue is only reserved for specialized areas that do not allow traditional soldering because of the delicate materials involved.
