A University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate student discovered a “shape-recovering liquid,” which seems to violate thermodynamic principles, during his research at the university. Anthony Raykh examined a mixture containing oil and water and magnetized nickel particles in his research. The vial received a shake to form an emulsion, which was a short-lived combination of incompatible liquids, yet it failed to separate in its usual upper-lower pattern. The mixture repeatedly took the form of a Grecian urn despite all expectations.
Emulsions naturally seek to minimize their interfacial boundaries between liquids according to the principles of thermodynamics. The formation of spherical droplets occurs because they minimize surface area. The Grecian urn design exhibits more exposed area even though it should be a thermodynamically less efficient shape. Professor Thomas Russell expressed his surprise about this phenomenon while co-authoring the paper because it runs against typical thermodynamic patterns.
Research investigators discovered that the solution depended on the nickel particles. The nickel particles generated magnetic dipoles, which then formed chains that spread across the liquid surface. The disruption of separation processes through this interference generated higher interfacial energy, which kept the emulsion in its urn-like form during multiple disturbances.
Russell explained that thermodynamic laws remain valid for the entire system despite the apparent violation. The magnetic interactions between individual particles form the basis of this anomaly rather than affecting bulk behavior. The discovery resulted from chance, and it raises questions about the influence of particle-level forces on macroscopic physical systems while potentially leading to new developments in smart fluids and responsive materials.
