Project description
X-ray technology reveals the dynamics of atoms in disordered systems
Most of us think of glass as the hard brittle solid that forms the panes on our windows or the windshields of our cars. However, glasses are a large family of compounds and the building blocks of many different products. They are very important members of the class of amorphous solids – solids without an ordered internal structure – made by cooling certain materials in a way that they do not crystallise. Despite the importance of glasses, we still know little about the conditions under which they form and the dynamics of the atoms they comprise. The EU-funded CoherentGlasses project is applying the proven capabilities of advanced X-ray technology to conduct a comprehensive study of the multitude of glass-forming materials and the process itself in progress.
Objective
"Glasses are mysterious materials. Fundamental blocks in many natural and technological processes, still, their properties keep puzzling a large community of scientists nowadays. Following different experimental routes, materials as diverse as colloidal suspensions, emulsions and viscous liquids can be driven in an out-of-equilibrium state, where they solidify under conditions that still remain unknown. This process, traditionally called glass transition, leads to many intriguing phenomena as the emergence of multiple relaxations processes, dynamical heterogeneities, crossovers between distinct amorphous states, and uncommon mechanisms of particle motions.
Within the large family of disordered systems, structural glasses play a key role being often considered as archetypes of out-of-equilibrium materials. Despite decades of studies, a microscopic theory of glasses is still missing due to the difficulty to probe their atomic motion with experiments and simulations.
Few years ago, I used coherent x-rays to perform the first worldwide experiments probing the atomic motion of glasses. My works reported on a surprising glassy dynamic reminiscent of an anomalous stress-driven particle motion observed in some soft systems. Due to severe technical constraints, the studies performed so far were limited to the external, tiny portion of the huge ""iceberg” of dynamical features occurring at the atomic level, whose comprehension would enable substantial advances in the frontiers of knowledge.
Thanks to the new possibilities offered by coherent x-rays, now is the right time to unveil the atomic dance of glasses in all its complexity with the CoherentGlasses project. Following four challenging experimental Research Objectives, we will provide a coherent picture of the microscopic dynamic and structural features accounting for the above discussed fascinating phenomena in glass-formers.
A successful project keeps the promise to boost our knowledge on out-of-equilibrium material."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-STG
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75794 PARIS
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.