Toward broadband mechanical spectroscopy.

Hecksher, Tina; Torchinsky, Darius H; Klieber, Christoph; Johnson, Jeremy A; Dyre, Jeppe C; Nelson, Keith A · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Diverse material classes exhibit qualitatively similar behavior when made viscous upon cooling toward the glass transition, suggesting a common theoretical basis. We used seven different measurement methods to determine the mechanical relaxation kinetics of a prototype molecular glass former over a temporal range of 13 decades and over a temperature range spanning liquid to glassy states. The data conform to time-temperature superposition for the main (alpha) process and to a scaling relation of schematic mode-coupling theory. The broadband mechanical measurements demonstrated have fundamental and practical applications in polymer science, geophysics, multifunctional materials, and other areas.