Mesophase intermediate matter states significantly accelerate nanoparticle crystallization, highly valued for their orderly structures

https://phys.org/news/2026-03-intermediate-phases-faster-nanoparticle-crystallization.html

"nanoparticles disordered during assembly, overcome passing through mesophase preventing these dead ends by splitting large free-energy barrier, crystallizing orders magnitude faster than using 1-step transition... mesophases more mobile/ flexible than final crystals, easier to anneal/ fix structural defects for more homogeneous final material with fewer flaws... rules define pressure, concentration, particle shape forming mesophase... optical devices, data storage, biological/ synthetic polymers/ proteins"