Metastable Liquids: Concepts and Principles

by Pablo G. Debenedetti

Overview

Metastable Liquids provides a comprehensive treatment of the properties of liquids under conditions where the stable state is a vapor, a solid, or a liquid mixture of different composition. It examines the fundamental principles that govern the equilibrium properties, stability, relaxation mechanisms, and relaxation rates of metastable liquids. Building on the interplay of kinetics and thermodynamics that determines the thermophysical properties and structural relaxation of metastable liquids, it offers an in-depth treatment of thermodynamic stability theory, the statistical mechanics of metastability, nucleation, spinodal decomposition, supercooled liquids, and the glass transition.


Both traditional topics—such as stability theory—and modern developments—including modern theories of nucleation and the properties of supercooled and glassy water—are treated in detail. An introductory chapter illustrates, with numerous examples, the importance and ubiquity of metastable liquids. Examples include the ascent of sap in plants, the strategies adopted by many living organisms to survive prolonged exposure to sub-freezing conditions, the behavior of proteins at low temperatures, metastability in mineral inclusions, ozone depletion, the preservation and storage of labile biochemicals, and the prevention of natural gas clathrate hydrate formation. All mathematical symbols are defined in the text and key equations are clearly explained. More complex mathematical explanations are available in the appendixes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691085951
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	01/12/1997
Series:	Physical Chemistry: Science and Engineering , #1
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Pablo G. Debenedetti is Professor of Chemical Engineering at Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

1 Introduction: Metastable Liquids in Nature and Technology 1

2 Thermodynamics 63

3 Kinetics 147

4 Supercooled Liquids 235

5 Outlook 363

App. 1 Stability of Fluids: Thermodynamic and Mathematical Proofs 367

App. 2 Thermodynamics of Fluid Interfaces 377

App. 3 Definitions of Microscopic and Statistical Quantities 389

Index 397

Editorial Reviews

"This is an authoritative text . . . both readable and comprehensive. It should provide an invaluable handbook both for experimentalists interested in what is known about metastable liquids and for theoreticians who wish to become aware of the great deal which remains to be explained and understood."

Contemporary Physics

Winner of the 1997 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Chemistry, Association of American Publishers

From the Publisher