Abstract
The relaxation kinetics and phase transformations of the confined D-mannitol (DM) in nanoporous alumina are studied in-situ using a high-precision nano-calorimeter. We find that the crystallization behavior can be suppressed when it is confined in nanopores smaller than 50 nm. The confined DM glass has a much smaller fragility (~76) than free DM glass (~125), confirming the enhanced glass-forming ability. It is intriguing that during isothermal annealing both the confined and free DM glasses relaxation kinetics experience two relaxation stages that have distinct activation energies. The relaxation activation energy of the confined glass is about 25%-29% smaller than the free glass, which is attributed to the reduced dimensionality. The abnormal kinetics observed in the confined DM glass open a new avenue for preparing stable glasses.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
L. J. Song, M. Gao, W. Xu, J. T. Huo, J. Q. Wang, R. W. Li, W. H. Wang, and J. H. Perepezko, Acta Mater. 185, 38 (2020).
Z. Fakhraai, and J. A. Forrest, Science 319, 600 (2008).
L. Zhu, C. W. Brian, S. F. Swallen, P. T. Straus, M. D. Ediger, and L. Yu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 256103 (2011).
S. S. Jiang, K. F. Gan, Y. J. Huang, P. Xue, Z. L. Ning, J. F. Sun, and A. H. W. Ngan, Int. J. Plast. 125, 52 (2020).
K. L. Ngai, S. Capaccioli, C. R. Cao, H. Y. Bai, and W. H. Wang, J. Non-Crystalline Solids 463, 85 (2017).
L. D. Gelb, K. E. Gubbins, R. Radhakrishnan, and M. Sliwinska-Bartkowiak, Rep. Prog. Phys. 62, 1573 (1999).
Q. Tang, W. Hu, and S. Napolitano, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 148306 (2014).
S. Sohn, Y. Xie, Y. Jung, J. Schroers, and J. J. Cha, Nat. Commun. 8, 1980 (2017).
H. Duran, M. Steinhart, H. J. Butt, and G. Floudas, Nano Lett. 11, 1671 (2011).
X. Dai, H. Li, Z. Ren, T. P. Russell, S. Yan, and X. Sun, Macromolecules 51, 5732 (2018).
J. Swenson, and J. Teixeira, J. Chem. Phys. 132, 014508 (2010).
D. Richter, and M. Kruteva, Soft Matter 15, 7316 (2019).
K. Chat, W. Tu, L. Laskowski, and K. Adrjanowicz, J. Phys. Chem. C 123, 13365 (2019).
S. Ruan, W. Zhang, Y. Sun, M. D. Ediger, and L. Yu, J. Chem. Phys. 145, 064503 (2016).
B. C. Saha, and F. M. Racine, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 89, 879 (2011).
L. Yu, Adv. Drug Deliver. Rev. 48, 27 (2001).
M. Zhu, J. Q. Wang, J. H. Perepezko, and L. Yu, J. Chem. Phys. 142, 244504 (2015).
W. Tang, and J. H. Perepezko, J. Chem. Phys. 149, 074505 (2018).
J. Q. Wang, Y. Shen, J. H. Perepezko, and M. D. Ediger, Acta Mater. 104, 25 (2016).
J. Q. Wang, N. Chen, P. Liu, Z. Wang, D. V. Louzguine-Luzgin, M. W. Chen, and J. H. Perepezko, Acta Mater. 79, 30 (2014).
R. Brüning, and K. Samwer, Phys. Rev. B 46, 11318 (1992).
H. Tanaka, J. Non-Crystalline Solids 351, 678 (2005).
L. Hu, and Y. Yue, J. Phys. Chem. C 113, 15001 (2009).
L. Song, W. Xu, J. Huo, J. Q. Wang, X. Wang, and R. Li, Intermetallics 93, 101 (2018).
L. Li, D. Zhou, D. Huang, and G. Xue, Macromolecules 47, 297 (2014).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cao, Y., Song, L., Li, A. et al. Abnormal relaxation kinetics in D-mannitol glass confined by nanoporous alumina. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 63, 276113 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-020-1535-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-020-1535-3