Today I will share with you an interesting piece of physics: physicists have discovered a new state of matter hidden in the mysterious process between the liquid and solid phases of glass.
This new state of matter can also be said to be "liquid glass", exhibiting unprecedented behavior at the microscopic level, distinguishing it from previously observed and known phenomena.
This new state seems to exist between a solid and a colloid (such as a gel), which is a homogeneous mixture of tiny but still larger particles than atoms and molecules, which is easy to study.
"Theoretically speaking, it is so interesting that it is unbelievable." said Matthias Fuchs, a professor of theoretical knowledge of soft aggregates at the University of Konstanz, Germany.
"Our experiments provide evidence that the scientific community has long been concerned about the interaction between critical fluctuations and glass locking."
When materials are transformed from liquid to solid, their molecules are usually arranged in a crystal pattern. This is not the case with glass, which is why scientists are so keen to analyze and deconstruct glass: With glass (and glass-like materials), molecules are locked or frozen in a disordered state.
In liquid glass, scientists have noticed that glues can move but cannot rotate—they are more flexible than the molecules in glass, but not enough to compete with traditional materials that have been extensively studied.
By using an ellipse instead of a standard spherical shape, it can be observed that the non-rotating particles gather together in a similar direction and then block each other inside the material.
Andreas Zumbusch, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Konstanz, explained: “Because of their different shapes, our particles are directional, which leads to new complex behaviors that have not been studied before. ."
The research staff said that the new state of material life is actually the mutual promotion of the liquid-solid transition between two aspects, forming a mixture of different enterprise properties. The shape and concentration of the particles seem to be crucial to the manufacture of this liquid glass in China.
There are still many unanswered questions, but the author hopes that these discoveries can surpass the glass itself and reveal all the mysteries from the smallest biological cell to the largest cosmic system.
Students who are interested in this aspect of physics can check more on the Centroid Physics website ~