Physicists have identified a new situation, hidden within the mysterious changes that occur between molten and hard glass states.
The movement of glass is of great interest to scientists, and the new setting – known as ‘melting glass’ – is showing unprecedented microscopic behavior, characterizing it as something unique from onions that have been seen before.
This new state seems to exist between solid and colloid (such as gel): homogeneous mixtures with particles that are microscopic but still larger than atoms and molecules, and easier to study. In this case tiny plastic ellipsoidal colloids were formed and mixed together in a solvent.
“This is incredibly interesting from a theoretical observation point,” says Matthias Fuchs, professor of soft subject theory at the University of Konstanz in Germany.
“Our experiments provide the kind of evidence for the interplay between critical variables and glass grip that the scientific community has been in for a long time.”
When materials transform from liquids to solids, their molecules usually come up to form a crystalline pattern. Not so with glass, which is why scientists are so willing to study and deconstruct it: with glass (and glass-like materials), the molecules are locked or frozen in a state of disarray. .
In smelting glass, the scientists noticed that the colloids were able to move, but could not rotate – they had more flexibility than the molecules in glass, but there were not enough to make them comparable to regular products that have already been widely studied.
Using ellipsoidal colloids instead of the usual spherical shapes, these locked wheels can be seen. The grains were grouped together in groups with identical directions, which blocked each other within the material.
Ellipsoidal grains in collections in molten glass. (Research groups of Professor Andreas Zumbusch and Professor Matthias Fuchs)
“Because of their unique shapes our grains have a direction – as opposed to spherical grains – that cause completely new and previously untested behavior,” explained Andreas Zumbusch, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Konstanz.
The researchers say the new setting is in fact two liquid-to-hard transitions communicating, creating a combination of different properties. The shape and density of the grains appear to be crucial in the formation of this melting glass.
As always with glass transitions, many questions remain unanswered, but the study’s authors hope that the discovery of smelting glass – which scientists have been predicting for twenty years – will help – help improve our understanding of how glass transitions work to a minimum. lannan.
The decisions have the potential to go far beyond glass as well, throwing light on everything from the smallest biological cell to the largest cosmological system – any situation where there is a disorder or -explained.
“Our results give us an insight into the interplay between local structures and phase transformations,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
“This will help guide applications such as self-assembly of colloidal superstitions and also provide evidence of the importance of shaping the overall glass movement.”
The research was published in PNAS.