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Abstract Kauzmann paradox (KP) suggests that deeply supercooled liquids can have a lower entropy than the corresponding crystalline solids. While this entropy catastrophe has been thoroughly studied via equilibrium thermodynamics, the solidification process occurs far‐from‐equilibrium. By analyzing this process experimentally and theoretically, we show that surface chemical speciation (oxidation‐driven generation and self‐organization of different species of the alloy components) in core‐shell particles (CSPs) can perturb the entropy production to an extent that a continuum equilibrium phase transition is not possible. Speciation of the surface causes divergence of associated stress vectors that generate nonequilibrium fluxes and frustrates homogeneous nucleation hence deep undercooling. The asymmetry of the speciation‐derived surface tensor skews the minimum entropy production criterion. We analyze a set of nonequilibrium models, one showing and one averting the entropy catastrophe. Applying thermodynamic speed limits to these models, we show that the KP takes another form. Deviations from the speed limit diverge the configurational entropy of the glass, but adding an interfacial state avoids the entropy catastrophe with significantly large supercooling. 

Active matter and driven systems exhibit statistical fluctuations in density and particle positions that are an indirect indicator of dissipation across length and time scales. Here, we quantitatively relate these fluctuations to a thermodynamic speed limit that constrains the rates of heat and entropy production in nonequilibrium processes. By reparametrizing the speed limit set by the Fisher information, we show how to infer these dissipation rates from directly observable or controllable quantities. This approach can use available experimental data as input and avoid the need for analytically solvable microscopic models or full time-dependent probability distributions. The heat rate we predict agrees with experimental measurements for a pulled Brownian particle and a microtubule active gel, which validates the approach and suggests potential for the design of experiments. 

We elucidate the mechanisms of chemically driven self-assembly processes, demonstrating how synchronous assembly–disassembly reactions can stabilize transient structures and create morphologies that differ from conventional assemblies.