What is it about?
Glasses and crystals are the two most important forms of solids. For a given stoichiometry, it is usually found that the glass and the corresponding crystal have a very similar short-range order, but only the crystalline phase also possesses long-range order. The similarity of short-range order has long been assumed to be due to a similarity in chemical bonding. Here we show that indeed for most solids the glasses employ the same bonding as the corresponding crystals. Yet, for some solids the bonding and hence also the short-range order and the properties differ substantially between glass and crystalline phase. This behavior is only found for those glasses, where the crystals employ an unconventional bonding mechanism, called metavalent bonding. Employing tools of quantum mechanics allows the physicists to draw a ‘treasure map’ identifying those solids.
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Why is it important?
This enables the rapid identification of solids, which drastically change their properties upon crystallization, a property which is important for a variety of applications.
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This page is a summary of: Tailoring chemical bonds to design unconventional glasses, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316498121.
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