Fragility of 1D Floppy Materials

Abstract

The fragility works as a fundamental concept characterizing glass‐forming liquids, whereas its atomic structural interpretation remains a challenge. Herein, viscosity behaviors in polyethylene (PE), S, Se, and Te are examined, which consist of distorted chain molecules with varied interchain strength, in comparison with that in SiO2, a typical strong material. Among the 1D materials, S and PE appear to be fairly strong. Such results suggest that the viscosity exhibits Arrhenius‐type behaviourif it is governed by single microscopic mechanisms such as SiO bond scission or interchain slippages. In contrast, Se and Te appear fragile with non‐Arrhenius variations, which could be ascribable to mixed inter‐ and intrachain interactions. Among these floppy materials, it is known that Se is the best glass former, the reason being discussed.