mth91

Would this be feasible or is this ridiculous? I know this would be a better thermal paste than anything currently on the market because it would be far more conductive, but would it work in the end?

Edit: Yall do realize that you're being incredibly rude right? The whole point of this thread was to understand the concept behind it if I had the materials to keep it properly contained. Also, what other metals are liquid at room temperature, and would any of them be reasonable to use for an application like this?

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Shane1244

Nope, It's poisonous, and it also wouldn't stay between the surfaces.

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leptonsoup337

Mercury is VERY nasty stuff despite having some nice physical properties. Not only is it one of the rare metals that is a liquid at room temperature, it also has this funny habit of vaporizing over time so it is not a very practical solution for use as a thermal paste. As an added bonus, mercury is toxic. While elemental mercury is not particularly toxic, your body can oxidize it to its 2+ oxidation state which is extremely toxic. Also, alkyl mercury (such as methyl mercury) compounds can form in your body should be unlucky enough to ingest or breath it; these compounds are extremely toxic. Mercury can also form amalgams with other metals which can make cooling applications problematic although it can be used in some heat pipe applications. Disposing of mercury waste is also not fun and the EPA has some pretty tight regulations about clean up (more than a teaspoon quantity is considered a Hazmat cleanup situation!).

The bottom line is I would stay away from mercury. Every time I have to use mercuric oxide in the lab to make diazo compounds I get extremely nervous and cleaning up the mercury waste is always a pain. Every time I have to clean up a broken mercury thermometer I wonder why they are using mercury for "normal" applications when an alcohol based thermometer would do just fine. Ugh.

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Lord Xeb

Did you ever get taught about mercury in school? MERCURY KILLS PEOPLE! It will start to give off gases as it heats up man. So my answer;

YOU WOULD BE AN IDIOT TO DO IT!

Just please man, do not use mercury. it is one of the most dangerous things to play with and can and will cause nervous system problems and even death if handled improperly. STAY AWAY FROM THIS STUFF!

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laboitenoire

+1

Mercury is extremely poisonous. It's one reason why it sucks to have coal power plants, and why pregnant women should avoid eating certain kinds of fish.

Plus, ever heard of mad hatters? Well, the reason they went mad was that they used to treat felt hats with mercury compounds. Glass also used to be made by floating the silica on mercury.

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burton560

yeah...absolutely horrible idea

its heat conductivity is incredible, but you'd probably kill yourself trying it

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Foxy@OC'D

I say give it a go see what happens........


And if you don't reply with results in a few days we will know the outcome.






But seriously you will die

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honk_honk

If you use mercury, it (the vapors) would turn you into an idiot.

Edit: Since mercury is liquid at room temp, won't it seep out from under the heatsink due to pressure?

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Diabolical999

Wow, talk about one of the most toxic metals known to man. As thermal paste? lol

File that one under:"Most stupidest PC thing you've done?" thread.

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K2e2vin

Aluminum is more conductive than mercury anyways; and would be much less conductive than our thermal pastes.