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Surface melting of a colloidal glass

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  • Li Tian

    (Universität Konstanz)

  • Clemens Bechinger

    (Universität Konstanz)

Abstract

Despite their technological relevance, a full microscopic understanding of glasses is still lacking. This applies even more to their surfaces whose properties largely differ from that of the bulk material. Here, we experimentally investigate the surface of a two-dimensional glass as a function of the effective temperature. To yield a free surface, we use an attractive colloidal suspension of micron-sized particles interacting via tunable critical Casimir forces. Similar to crystals, we observe surface melting of the glass, i.e., the formation of a liquid film at the surface well below the glass temperature. Underneath, however, we find an unexpected region with bulk density but much faster particle dynamics. It results from connected clusters of highly mobile particles which are formed near the surface and deeply percolate into the underlying material. Because its thickness can reach several tens of particle diameters, this layer may elucidate the poorly understood properties of thin glassy films which find use in many technical applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Tian & Clemens Bechinger, 2022. "Surface melting of a colloidal glass," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-5, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-34317-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34317-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. C. Hertlein & L. Helden & A. Gambassi & S. Dietrich & C. Bechinger, 2008. "Direct measurement of critical Casimir forces," Nature, Nature, vol. 451(7175), pages 172-175, January.
    2. Christoph Bennemann & Claudio Donati & Jörg Baschnagel & Sharon C. Glotzer, 1999. "Growing range of correlated motion in a polymer melt on cooling towards the glass transition," Nature, Nature, vol. 399(6733), pages 246-249, May.
    3. Divya Ganapathi & K. Hima Nagamanasa & A. K. Sood & Rajesh Ganapathy, 2018. "Measurements of growing surface tension of amorphous–amorphous interfaces on approaching the colloidal glass transition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Bo Li & Kai Lou & Walter Kob & Steve Granick, 2020. "Anatomy of cage formation in a two-dimensional glass-forming liquid," Nature, Nature, vol. 587(7833), pages 225-229, November.
    5. Bo Li & Feng Wang & Di Zhou & Yi Peng & Ran Ni & Yilong Han, 2016. "Modes of surface premelting in colloidal crystals composed of attractive particles," Nature, Nature, vol. 531(7595), pages 485-488, March.
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