Physicists have stumbled upon a new state of matter, concealed inside the unknown changes that occur among the solid and liquid states of glass. The glass transition has fascinated scientists for years. The new state is referred to as ‘liquid glass’. It shows behavior on a microscopic scale that has never been observed till date.
How did they find the new state of matter?
The new state of matter seemingly exists between a sold and a colloid. For this situation small, customized plastic ellipsoidal colloids were made and combined in a solvent. Matthias Fuchs, a professor of soft condensed matter theory at the University of Konstanz in Germany stated, “This is really intriguing in terms of theory. The experiments performed by us give the proof regarding the exchange between basic vacillations and smooth capture that mainstream researchers have been looking for since years.”
Usually when materials change their physical state from liquid to a solid, the molecules in them form a crystalline pattern. Such a pattern cannot be noticed in case of glass. It is precisely why scientists are eager to study it. In case of glass, the molecules appear as if they are frozen in random state. The molecules demonstrated ability to move in liquid glass but were unable to spin. By utilizing ellipsoidal colloids as opposed to the standard round shapes, these bolted revolutions could be noticed. The particles bunched together in gatherings with comparable directions, which at that point hindered each other inside the material.
Andreas Zumbusch, a professor of physical chemistry at the University of Konstanz stated, “Because of their particular shapes our particles have direction – rather than round particles – which offers ascend to completely new and beforehand unstudied sorts of complex practices.” The scientists are of the opinion that the newly discovered state is actually the interaction between two competing liquid-to-solid transitions. It is responsible for producing the new properties. The research has been published in PNAS.
