# The Formation of Ultra-Stable Glasses via Precipitation: a Modelling Study

## TL;DR

This study models how precipitating a glass-forming solute from solution can create ultra-stable glasses with lower energy states, surpassing traditional annealing methods, and highlights the role of residual solvent in stability.

## Contribution

It introduces a lattice model to simulate glass precipitation, revealing a novel pathway to produce ultra-stable glasses dominated by residual solvent effects.

## Key findings

- Precipitation yields more stable glasses than long-term annealing.
- Residual solvent significantly influences the energy state of the precipitated glass.
- Model demonstrates the potential for controlled formation of ultra-stable glasses.

## Abstract

The precipitation of a glass forming solute from solution is modelled using a lattice model previously introduced to study dissolution kinetics of amorphous materials. The model includes the enhancement of kinetics at the surface of a glass in contact with a plasticizing solvent. We demonstrate that precipitation can produce a glass substantially more stable than that produced by very long time annealing of the bulk glass former. The energy of these ultra-stable amorphous precipitates is found to be dominated by residual solvent rather than high energy glass configurations.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1905.03944