Active particles could make stable glasses stronger without catastrophic brittle failure
The strongest glasses have an Achilles' heel that causes them to fail catastrophically when pushed past their limit. They do not bend or stretch, as all damage concentrates into a single plane and the material fails in an instant. This brittleness has long capped the usefulness of high-stability amorphous solids, from bulk metallic glasses to engineered metamaterials.
The strongest glasses often crack or shatter when they are subjected to forces beyond their capacity. This brittleness is a result of damage concentrating in a single plane, causing the material to fail abruptly. Scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Heinrich Heine University have discovered a potential solution to this issue: introducing self-propelled particles into the glass while it is being sheared.
These particles, which generate their own movement, help to reduce the glass's brittleness and increase its overall strength. The researchers' theoretical framework demonstrates that the shear rate and the activity of the self-propelled particles can be balanced to control the failure mechanism of the glass, replacing the brittle behavior with a more gradual deformation.
This discovery not only expands our understanding of the brittleness in glasses but also opens up new possibilities for creating stronger, more stable materials.
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