Phase transitions occur when the chemical potentials (including bulk and interfacial contributions) of two phases are equal. For systems with large interfaces, such as thin films or small particles, ...

When ice melts into water, it happens quickly, with the transition from solid to liquid being immediate. However, very thin materials do not adhere to these rules. Instead, an unusual state between ...

Physicists have finally filmed a crystal as it melts and discovered that, under the right conditions, it refuses to behave like ordinary ice. Instead of dissolving smoothly into a liquid, this solid ...

Charge density waves (CDWs) are ordered, crystal-like patterns in the arrangement of electrons that spontaneously form inside ...

There is a new way to develop all-solid-state lithium batteries without a risk of conflagration or explosion, say scientists. The method involves melting the solid electrolyte and coating that melted ...

Jun Wu, Minxue Tang, Lingrong Zhao, Pengfei Zhu, Tao Jiang, Xiao Zou, Liang Hong, Sheng-Nian Luo, Dao Xiang, Jie Zhang Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, ...

After melting, the water molecules are closer together than they were as ice. As a liquid, the molecules are more randomly arranged and the molecules are able to slide past each other. As energy is ...