The reversibility and first-order nature of liquid-liquid transition in a molecular liquid

Abstract

Liquid-liquid transition is an intriguing phenomenon in which a liquid transforms into another liquid via the first-order transition. For molecular liquids, however, it always takes place in a supercooled liquid state metastable against crystallization, which has led to a number of serious debates concerning its origin: liquid-liquid transition versus unusual nano-crystal formation. Thus, there have so far been no single example free from such debates, to the best of our knowledge. Here we show experimental evidence that the transition is truly liquid-liquid transition and not nano-crystallization for a molecular liquid, triphenyl phosphite. We kinetically isolate the reverse liquid-liquid transition from glass transition and crystallization with a high heating rate of flash differential scanning calorimetry, and prove the reversibility and first-order nature of liquid-liquid transition. Our finding not only deepens our physical understanding of liquid-liquid transition but may also initiate a phase of its research from both fundamental and applications viewpoints.