Chemically Driven Nano‐Elastic Heterogeneities Control Fragility in Volcanic Melts
Here, the nanoscale structural drivers of the mechanical behavior of volcanic glasses are explored. The study spans a compositional series ranging from basalt to rhyolite, encompassing also technical glass-forming melts. Using a granular-medium framework, the vibrational and physical properties of synthetic silicate glass-forming melts are characterized. From these, this study quantifies the correlation length (ξ) and microscopic free volume (V<sub>c</sub>), two parameters linked to the internal structural heterogeneity of the glass network. This study finds that both ξ and V<sub>c</sub> systematically increase with silica content and show strong inverse correlations with elastic moduli and the melt fragility, highlighting how variations in medium-range order affect the elastic and viscous response of the melt. These results provide a quantitative framework to connect compositional changes with rheological behavior, offering new perspectives on how nanoscale structural features contribute to the mechanical evolution of silicate melts.
Authors
- Francesco Radica (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8640-0854)
- Danilo Di Genova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7370-6739)
- Fabrizio Di Fiore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6749-280X)
- Gianluca Iezzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0618-0316)
- Hideyuki Mizuno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2866-7400)
- Levent Karacasulu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4710-2816)
- N. Daldosso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5578-4223)
- Michele Cassetta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2078-655X)
- Daria Szewczyk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7923-1239)
- Alessio Pontesilli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3409-9531)
- Serena Dominijanni
- Francesco Vetere (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0723-1990)
- Dmitry Bondar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2058-3173)
- Gabriele F. Giuliani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4673-3077)
Institutions
- University of Siena (IT)
- Roma Tre University (IT)
- University of Verona (IT)
- Tokyo University of the Arts (JP)
- University of Trento (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (IT)
- University of Chieti-Pescara (IT)
- Istituto Officina dei Materiali (IT)
- Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics (IT)
- Torino e-district (IT)
- Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research (PL)
- University of Bayreuth (DE)
- University of Turin (IT)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Science
- Published
- 2025-11-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202512063
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Glass properties and applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.73
Funders
- European Commission
- Università degli Studi di Verona
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme