(PhysOrg.com) -- Liquid or glass, hard or soft -- researchers at
the University of Twente, The Netherlands, are investigating a
new 'model material' that can adopt a series of different
properties. This is possible because of miniscule balls of
knotted polymers which become enlarged as the temperature drops.
It has interesting potential for research into the consequences
of ageing in the properties of glass, which can serve as a model
for the natural process of ageing. Researchers in the Physics of
Complex Fluids group have published a paper on the subject in
Physical Review Letters. The size of the polymer balls is on a
nano scale - at 40 degrees, their diameter is around 100
nanometres and at 20 degrees they become enlarged to about 200
nanometres and also increase in softness. The transition from
liquid to solid (or glass-like) can be controlled in a number of
ways, resulting in glass that varies in hardness. Just a few
particles that have become significantly enlarged can occupy the
same amount of space a