This Liquid Metal MELTS Laptops! Gallium makes aluminum brittle because it diffuses rapidly into the grain boundaries of aluminum and disrupts its metallic bonding. Aluminum normally has a ductile face-centered cubic structure, but when gallium infiltrates the grain boundaries, it prevents aluminum atoms from bonding properly across them. This weakens the structure in a process called liquid metal embrittlement, causing the metal to lose its ductility and fracture under small stresses. 📷 credit