Glass transition by gelation in a phase separating binary alloy
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Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions
Published on: April 19, 2018
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Abstract:
We use molecular dynamics simulations to show that glass transition in a model phase separating amorphous alloy, Cu(50)Nb(50), occurs by gelation. At the glass transition, a mechanically stiff, percolating network of atoms with icosahedral local packing forms at the interfaces between compositionally enriched regions. This low-energy network halts coarsening of the phase-separated structure and imparts shear resistance. These features of glass transition are remarkably similar to gelation processes in polymeric and colloidal gels.
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