Computer simulation study of phase separation in a binary mixture with a glass-forming component

Dirk Sappelt and Josef Jäckle

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1997, vol. 240, issue 3, 453-479

Abstract: We present a computer simulation study of spinodal decomposition with one of the two phases freezing in a glassy state during phase separation. As a model we used the Cahn-Hilliard equation with a concentration-dependent mobility coefficient which decreases rapidly with increasing concentration of the glass-forming component. We solved the Cahn-Hilliard equation numerically for two dimensions. The domain growth depends crucially on the volume fraction of the glassy phase. For high volume fractions, when the glassy phase forms a percolating matrix, a novel coarsening mechanism is discovered, which arises from the migration and coalescence of liquid droplets within the glassy matrix. Various quantities characterizing the time-dependent domain pattern, like droplet size distribution, one- and two-point distribution function and structure factor of the concentration field, are computed. We checked the validity of the dynamic scaling hypothesis.

Keywords: Spinodal decomposition; Phase separation; Glass transition; Coarsening mechanism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:240:y:1997:i:3:p:453-479

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(97)00048-4

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