Soft colloids make strong glasses

Johan Mattsson (), Hans M. Wyss, Alberto Fernandez-Nieves, Kunimasa Miyazaki, Zhibing Hu, David R. Reichman and David A. Weitz
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Johan Mattsson: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
Hans M. Wyss: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
Alberto Fernandez-Nieves: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
Kunimasa Miyazaki: Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
Zhibing Hu: University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203, USA
David R. Reichman: Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
David A. Weitz: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 462, issue 7269, 83-86

Abstract: Glass fragility in colloids Glasses can be classified as either fragile or strong, according to whether they show a marked dependence of their relaxation time with temperature when approaching the glass transition. It has been difficult so far to study this behaviour in molecular liquids and to understand where it stems from. Now Mattsson et al. show that colloids incorporating deformable particles can also exhibit this rich behaviour: previously they had been thought to produce only fragile glasses. The fragility of these colloids is dependent on the elasticity of the particles, with softer particles leading to stronger behaviour. Since colloids are easy to study by imaging and other techniques, this model system could help unravel the origin of fragility in glasses.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08457

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