How the molecular structure of silicate melts controls their way to flow?

What is it about?

Silicate melts are important materials as they are, in fact, the molten rocks involved in the volcanic activity of the Earth, as well as the materials used to obtain glass in the Industry. The chemical composition of the melts defines their molecular structure. The later influences their degree of disorder at the molecular scale (their configurational entropy) as well as the energetic barriers opposed to molecular re-arrangements. The two latter parameter can be linked to the viscosity of the melts, which is their resistance to flow. This paper does the links between all those properties (chemical composition, molecular structure, thermodynamic properties and viscosity) to propose a general simple model that will allow predicting those quantities.

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Why is it important?

Models to predict the viscosity of silicate melts already exist. However, those models are restricted to specific ranges of chemical compositions and/or temperature, and do not provide any information about the thermodynamic properties or the structure of the melts. The present new model offers a unique way to do so, and, hence, to be able to calculate key properties such as the mobility of the melts, their ability to store heat, and their intrinsic structure. This knowledge can allow engineering better glasses in the glass industry, or to predicting the viscosity of lavas as well as their ability to exchange heat with the surrounding rocks, which are two important parameters that influence the dynamic of volcanic eruptions.

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