Revealing the Relationship Between Liquid Fragility and Medium-Range Order in Silicate Glasses

August 30, 2023
Revealing the Relationship Between Liquid Fragility and Medium-Range Order in Silicate Glasses
Inverse linear correlation between m and MRD values for 89 aluminosilicate glasses (left). Structural origin of the m-MRD correlation revealed by in-situ neutron total-scattering analysis (right), the glasses with lower MRD-value, as directed by the black arrow sign, exhibit broader through-Tg FSDP shifting as illustrated by the distance between two red arrow signs.

Scientific Achievement

Despite decades of studies, the nature of the glass transition remains elusive. This study reveals the existence of an intimate relationship between medium-range distance (measured by neutron-diffraction) and fragility in silicate glasses.

Significance and Impact

Fragility governs all stages of industrial glass production. Finding its structural origin can facilitate the design of new glass formulations with optimized melting, forming, and relaxation behaviors.

Research Details

  • Both room temperature and in-situ Neutron total scattering were combined with experimental and simulation techniques to reveal the correlation between medium-range distance and fragility in silicate glasses.

“Revealing the relationship between liquid fragility and medium-range order in silicate glasses”
Ying Shi, Binghui Deng, Ozgur Gulbiten, Mathieu Bauchy, Qi Zhou, Jorg Neuefeind, Stephen Elliott, Nicholas Smith, and Douglas Allan
Nature Communications 14:13 (2023). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35711-6