Yes, water found in nature conducts electricity - but that's because of the impurities therein, which dissolve into free ions that allow an electric current to flow.
Pure water only becomes "metallic" - electronically conductive - at extremely high pressures, beyond our current abilities to produce in a lab.
But, as researchers have now demonstrated for the first time, it's not only high pressures that can induce this metallicity in pure water.
By bringing pure water into contact with an electron-sharing alkali metal - in this case an alloy of sodium and potassium - free-moving charged particles can be added, turning water metallic.
The resulting conductivity only lasts a few seconds, but it's a significant step towards being able to understand this phase of water by studying it directly.
"You can see the phase transition to metallic water with the naked eye!" said physicist Robert Seidel of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie in Germany.
But, as researchers have now demonstrated for the first time, it's not only high pressures that can induce this metallicity in pure water.
By bringing pure water into contact with an electron-sharing alkali metal - in this case an alloy of sodium and potassium - free-moving charged particles can be added, turning water metallic.
The resulting conductivity only lasts a few seconds, but it's a significant step towards being able to understand this phase of water by studying it directly.
"You can see the phase transition to metallic water with the naked eye!" said physicist Robert Seidel of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie in Germany.
"The silvery sodium-potassium droplet covers itself with a golden glow, which is very impressive." READ MORE
