Temperature dependence of the viscosity through the glass transition in metaphosphate glasses and polystyrene

We measured the temperature dependence of the viscosity of metaphosphate glasses and polystyrene in the liquid and glass states using a method developed by authors. The results show the Vogel–Tammann–Fulcher equation on the viscosity–temperature relation above the glass transition temperature Tg and the Arrhenius one below Tg. In order to explain this viscosity change, the intermediate range order (IRO) is introduced. The effect of composition on the viscosity of metaphosphate glass and that of thermal and mechanical treatments on the viscosity of polystyrene were measured. The kinetic (viscous) transition was discovered at a temperature lower by 20 K than Tg determined by differential scanning calorimetry. We propose that the glass transition is a self-organization of the IRO of nanometer orders in size.