Researchers at the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel ( Schleswig – Holstein ) have succeeded for the first time to define the mobility of all components of a blend of glass on all relevant temperatures .

In this work , they succeeded in identifying a fundamental mechanism of glass formation in an alloy Pd43Cu27Ni10P20 . They demonstrated that the mobility of palladium atoms , very large, was 10,000 times lower than that of other elements during cooling of the melt just before solidification.

The bulk metallic glasses have quite remarkable properties and are among the most studied materials to date. They are much harder than conventional metals , and very elastic and resistant to corrosion. In addition , they can be formatted with the same precision and as easily as most polymers . However , they are very difficult to produce . This is due to the need to prevent crystallization , that is to say, the regular arrangement of atoms during the solidification of molten glass in order to maintain the molecular disorder characteristic of glasses. The mastery of glass formation thus requires a good understanding of how to ” disordered ” atoms in a targeted manner . ” The interest of the mechanism we have discovered is related to its universal nature , ” says Franz Faupel, Director of Research . The results thus facilitate the understanding of the mechanisms of transition from liquid to glass state of a material with several components.

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Article Wissenschaft – Wirtschaft – Politik 30-31/2010 – August 2010