Glass Science and First-Order Transitions at a Turning Point

Dear Colleagues,

Freezing transitions in amorphous materials are well known, while more and more thermodynamic transitions are observed in many investigations. Why? Polyamorphism exists depending on the thermal history, and on the heating and cooling rates. Glacial phases with highest T_g are formed at various cooling rates or by isothermal annealing. Ultrastable glass phases are obtained by vapor deposition below T_g. Are these glass phases formed below or above T_g, linked by some common thermodynamic and structural parameters? The first-order transitions simulated in liquid elements look like glacial phase transitions at high heating rates. Is the first-order transition to ⁴He glass-phase under pressure, a unique example? A change at glass transition leads to a new liquid phase. How to rejuvenate a melt which is characterized by a new T_g? This melt memory could exist up to a temperature higher than T_m. Meantime, liquid–liquid transitions are observed above T_m. Are they related to medium-range order, to short-range order, to some structural memory and to a hidden undercooled phase which could be overheated? Are prefrozen layers in polymers, due to this memory or only the consequence of 2D confinement near substrates? Are homogeneous nucleation phenomena able to describe these new transitions?

Is it possible for superclusters depending on thermal history and acting as bricks of glass formation in melts, to induce glass transitions at various percolation thresholds? What are the topological characteristics of liquid and glassy phases and how do they evolve during transitions observed?

These and some other related questions may serve as starting points for preparing submissions to this Special Issue of Materials by MDPI.

Dr. Robert F. Tournier
Prof. Dr. Michael I. Ojovan
Guest Editors

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