Click here to sign in with or

by Torie Wells, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

If you've ever dropped your smartphone on a concrete floor, you know that dreaded feeling as you turn it over to see how badly the screen has cracked—but that stress may soon be a thing of the past. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered a way to make glass less brittle and less likely to break.

Their findings, led by Yunfeng Shi, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer, were recently published in Nano Lett.

The glass currently used on many smartphones belongs to the oxide glass family, in which silicon atoms generally bond to four oxygen atoms. That type of bonding arrangement creates a rigid glass network that doesn't allow plastic deformation. So, when significant external stress is applied—as it is when a phone is dropped on a hard floor—the glass breaks.

What Shi and his colleagues found through molecular simulations was that silica glass, made by compressing silica nanoparticles together, can be stretched up to 100 percent without breaking. They also discovered that the enhanced ductility emerges when silicon bonds with five oxygen atoms instead of four, Shi said. This is known as five-fold silicon, and it's capable of shear flow under stress.

"The compression actually changes the material structure," Shi said.

This enhanced plasticity enables the glass to withstand more load without fracturing. Beyond our phones, the potential of this finding extends to numerous applications.

"This glass is actually as stiff as steel. So, if the glass can be toughened sufficiently, it can replace steel," Shi said. "Our holy grail is to make a transparent structural material."

This discovery was made through molecular simulations. Now, Shi said, the next step is to test it in the lab.

Yanming Zhang, a graduate student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, is the first author on this paper. The work was done in collaboration with Liping Huang, a professor of materials science and engineering. Explore further Researchers toughen glass using nanoparticles More information: Yanming Zhang et al. Silica Glass Toughened by Consolidation of Glassy Nanoparticles, Nano Letters (2019). DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b01634 Journal information: Nano Letters

More from Materials and Chemical Engineering

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form. For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

Medical research advances and health news

The latest engineering, electronics and technology advances

The most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web

This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, collect data for ads personalisation and provide content from third parties. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.