Effect of Liquid State Organization on Nanostructure and Strength of Model Multicomponent Solids.

When a multicomponent liquid composed of particles with random interactions is slowly cooled below the freezing temperature, the fluid reorganizes in order to increase (decrease) the number of strong (weak) attractive interactions and solidifies into a structure composed of domains of strongly and of weakly interacting particles. Using Langevin dynamics simulations of a model system we find that the tensile strength, mode of fracture, and thermal stability of such solids differ from those of one-component solids and that these properties can be controlled by the method of preparation.