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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Analyzing Melts and Fluids from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations with the UMD Package
Published on: September 17, 2021
Non-Arrhenius viscosity related to short-time ion dynamics in a fragile molten salt
Prabhakar Singh1, Radha D Banhatti, Klaus Funke
1Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Institut für Physikalische Chemie and Sonderforschungsbereich 458, Corrensstrasse 30, D-48149 Münster, Germany.
Abstract:
The equation T x sigmaDC(T) = alpha x exp[--(E*/kappa(B)T)--gamma x exp(E*/kappa(B)T)] has been used to understand the non-Arrhenius behaviour of the DC conductivity in supercooled glass-forming melts. Here, alpha, gamma and E* are parameters, E* denoting the activation energy for an elementary displacive step. Unlike the empirical VTF relation, our equation provides a link between the long-time and the short-time ion dynamics as observed in broad-band conductivity spectra. Surprisingly, the same equation with the same value of E* but different gamma successfully describes the fluidity (inverse viscosity) of a fragile glass-forming melt. This opens up the possibility of relating non-Arrhenius viscosities to short-time properties, which is in agreement with recent experimental and computer-simulation results.
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