A study led by Peter Wolynes, senior scientist at the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics at Rice University, involves the assessment of new methods to improve the strength of glass. Wolynes is credited to be the creator of the mathematical model that explains the mechanism of glass formation more than a decade ago.
Peter Wolynes, Rice University
The current study builds on this model and has incorporated certain changes in order to predict the strength of glass irrespective of the material it is derived from.
Glasses are generally viewed as fragile. They are derived by freezing their liquid form. The molecular structure of glass is unique because unlike ice that comprises water molecules in specific crystalline form, the molecules in glass are randomly oriented in a manner similar to that in liquid form. The strength of glass is decided by the bonds forged between these randomly oriented molecules. The amount of stress or strain glass can withstand before breaking is dependent on the quantity of energy absorbed before the inherent elastic properties reach the end of their tether. This absorption ability in turn is a function of the material used for making glass as well as the method of manufacture.
In most materials, the elasticity is proportional to the thermal vibrations inherent to the material. This means that a material with high melting point would exhibit a high elastic modulus and thereby possess high strength. But this does not seem to hold good for glass. An illustration of this is silica glass which possesses a high melting point yet is breakable.
The Rice researchers believe that replacing conventional cooling of silica, metal and polymer glasses with a process that slows down the cooling by employing atomic vapor deposition technique would yield glass that is atleast half as strong as the ideal glass.