Thermodynamic- Kinetic Correlations in Supercooled Liquids- A Critical Survey of Experimental Data and Predictions of the Random First Order Transition Theory of Glasses

TL;DR

This paper critically reviews experimental data on supercooled liquids and compares it with predictions from the Random First Order Transition theory, finding excellent agreement for activation barriers near the glass transition temperature.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive comparison between experimental thermodynamic and kinetic data and the RFOT theory predictions for 44 substances.

Findings

Excellent agreement between predicted and experimental activation energies near Tg.

Predictions depend on configurational heat capacity change and crystal melting entropy.

Validates RFOT theory as a reliable model for glass transition thermodynamics and kinetics.

Abstract

Thermodynamics and kinetics are thought to be linked in glass transitions. The quantitative predictions of -relaxation activation barriers provided by the theory of glasses based on random first order transitions are compared with experiment for 44 substances. The agreement found between the predicted activation energies near Tg and experiment is excellent. These predictions depend on the configurational heat capacity change on vitrification and the entropy of melting the crystal which are experimental inputs.