a new state of matter discovered by scientists

it’s a material we use every day, but did you know that the physical and chemical properties of glass have long baffled scientists? now, thanks to a team of researchers from the university of konstanz in germany, new light has been shed on the true nature of glass which, despite what you might think, is not a typical solid. led by professor andreas zumbusch and professor matthias fuchs, the study uncovered a new state of matter: liquid glass.

glass is an amorphous solid, which means that atoms and molecules exhibit more random arrangements than the defined lattice patterns of conventional solids. glass also does not follow the typical transition from liquid to solid, which usually involves the alignment of molecules to form a crystal pattern. instead, the glass molecules are effectively frozen in place before this crystallization can occur (via konstanz university). it is this unique transition that scientists wanted to understand. main image by johannes w on unsplash.

to conduct their research, the scientists used a model system of colloidal suspensions. colloidal suspension mixtures contain solid particles larger than atoms or molecules, making them easier to study. most of the experiments use spherical colloids, but this research used custom-made ellipsoidal colloids so the team could see if the particles changed orientation or not.

Using different concentrations of particles, the researchers observed how well the particles moved and rotated. experiments revealed that the state of liquid glass arises from clusters of particles in the same orientation which prevent each other from rotating, which would instead result in the formation of more conventional liquid crystals. the study marks a significant discovery in the world of chemistry, which had predicted the state of liquid glass of matter for 20 years. the study was first published in the proceedings of the journal of the national academy of sciences and was written by jörg roller, aleena laganapan, janne-mieke meijer, matthias fuchs and andreas zumbusch.

glass blowing process

designboom participated in the European initiative “Glass is tomorrow” at the sişecam factory in Turkey. see the manufacture of glass objects, here.