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Physicists have identified a new state of matter, hidden within the mysterious transformations that take place between the liquid and solid states of glass.
The glass transition is very fascinating to scientists, and the new state of matter – called “ liquid glass ” – exhibits behavior at a microscopic level that has never been seen before, marking it as distinct from previously observed phenomena.
This new state seems to exist between a solid and a colloid (like a gel): homogeneous mixtures with microscopic particles but always larger than atoms and molecules, and easier to study. In this case, tiny custom made plastic ellipsoidal colloids were created and mixed together in a solvent.
“It’s incredibly interesting from a theoretical point of view,” says Matthias Fuchs, professor of soft condensed matter theory at the University of Constance in Germany.
“Our experiments provide the kind of evidence for the interplay between critical fluctuations and glass stops that the scientific community has sought for some time.”
When materials turn from liquids to solids, their molecules usually line up to form a crystal pattern. This is not the case with glass, which is why scientists are so keen to analyze and deconstruct it: with glass (and glass-like materials) molecules are stuck or frozen in a state messy.
In liquid glass, scientists noticed that colloids could move, but could not rotate – they had more flexibility than molecules in glass, but not enough to make them comparable to ordinary materials that have already been widely studied.
By using ellipsoidal colloids rather than the standard spherical shapes, these locked rotations could be observed. The particles clustered into groups with similar orientations, which then became clogged inside the material.
Ellipsoidal particles in clusters in liquid glass. (Research groups of Prof. Andreas Zumbusch and Prof. Matthias Fuchs)
“Due to their distinct shapes, our particles have an orientation – as opposed to spherical particles – which gives rise to entirely new and never before studied complex types of behavior,” says Andreas Zumbusch, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Constance.
The researchers say the new state of matter is actually two competing liquid-solid transitions that interact, creating the mixture of different properties. The shape and concentration of the particles seem to be crucial in the creation of this liquid glass.
As always with glass transitions, there are many unanswered questions, but the study’s authors hope the discovery of liquid glass – which scientists have been predicting for twenty years – may help improve our understanding of how glass transitions work. glass to the smallest of Libra.
The discoveries also have the potential to go far beyond glass, shedding light on everything from the smallest biological cell to the largest cosmological system – any scenario where there is unexplained disorder.
“Our results provide insight into the interaction between local structures and phase transformations,” the researchers write in their paper.
“This helps guide applications such as self-assembly of colloidal superstructures and also demonstrates the importance of shape on the glass transition in general.”
The research was published in PNAS.
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