More Like this

1. Phase-change materials: The view from the liquid phase and the metallicity parameter

   https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2019.207  

   Wei, Shuai ; Lucas, Pierre ; Angell, C. Austen ( September 2019 , MRS Bulletin)

   While fast-switching rewritable nonvolatile memory units based on phase-change materials (PCMs) are already in production at major technology companies such as Intel (16–64 GB chips are currently available), an in-depth understanding of the physical factors that determine their success is still lacking. Recently, we have argued for a liquid-phase metal-to-semiconductor transition (M-SC), located not far below the melting point, T m , as essential. The M-SC is itself a consequence of atomic rearrangements that are involved in a fragile-to-strong viscosity transition that controls both the speed of crystallization and the stabilization of the semiconducting state. Here, we review past work and introduce a new parameter, the “metallicity” (inverse of the average Pauling electronegativity of a multicomponent alloy). When T m -scaled temperatures of known M-SCs of Group IV, V, and VI alloys are plotted against their metallicities, the curvilinear plot leads directly to the composition zone of all known PCMs and the temperature interval below T m , where the transition should occur. The metallicity concept could provide guidance for tailoring PCMs. 

   more » « less
2. Microstructural phase coexistence kinetics near the polymorphic phase boundary

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2020.116579  

   Torres-Matheus, Oscar A. ; García, R. Edwin ; Bishop, Catherine M. ( March 2021 , Acta Materialia)
3. Tuning the Three-Phase Microenvironment Geometry Promotes Phase Formation

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c03973  

   Colón-Quintana, Guillermo S. ; Vannoy, Kathryn J. ; Renault, Christophe ; Voci, Silvia ; Dick, Jeffrey E. ( December 2022 , The Journal of Physical Chemistry C)
4. Phase-separating pyrenoid proteins form complexes in the dilute phase

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04373-x  

   He, Guanhua ; GrandPre, Trevor ; Wilson, Hugh ; Zhang, Yaojun ; Jonikas, Martin C. ; Wingreen, Ned S. ; Wang, Quan ( December 2023 , Communications Biology)

   Abstract While most studies of biomolecular phase separation have focused on the condensed phase, relatively little is known about the dilute phase. Theory suggests that stable complexes form in the dilute phase of two-component phase-separating systems, impacting phase separation; however, these complexes have not been interrogated experimentally. We show that such complexes indeed exist, using an in vitro reconstitution system of a phase-separated organelle, the algal pyrenoid, consisting of purified proteins Rubisco and EPYC1. Applying fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to measure diffusion coefficients, we found that complexes form in the dilute phase with or without condensates present. The majority of these complexes contain exactly one Rubisco molecule. Additionally, we developed a simple analytical model which recapitulates experimental findings and provides molecular insights into the dilute phase organization. Thus, our results demonstrate the existence of protein complexes in the dilute phase, which could play important roles in the stability, dynamics, and regulation of condensates. 

   more » « less
5. Nucleation of the lamellar phase from the disordered phase of the renormalized Landau-Brazovskii model

   https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5003150  

   Carilli, Michael F. ; Delaney, Kris T. ; Fredrickson, Glenn H. ( February 2018 , The Journal of Chemical Physics)