Nanoglasses: a new kind of noncrystalline materials

• Herbert Gleiter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 517–533, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.61

• paramagnetic. Moreover, nanoglasses were noted to be more ductile, more biocompatible, and catalytically more active than the corresponding melt-quenched glasses. Hence, this new class of noncrystalline materials may open the way to technologies utilizing the new properties. Keywords: amorphous materials

• ; ferromagnetism; nanoglasses; nanostructured materials; noncrystalline materials; Review Introduction and basic concept The majority of materials that have been used by mankind since the Neolithic age are crystalline materials. The oldest known examples are granite and quartz used for producing stone-age tools

• were utilized and permitted new technologies to be developed. Today, we seem to be in a comparable situation for materials with noncrystalline structures. In fact, nanoglasses seem to open the way to a new class of noncrystalline materials with controllable atomic and electronic structures and, hence