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Materials Kinetics

Transport and Rate Phenomena

  • 2nd Edition - January 14, 2026
  • Latest edition
  • Author: John C. Mauro
  • Language: English

Materials Kinetics: Transport and Rate Phenomena, Second Edition provides readers with a clear understanding of how physical-chemical principles are applied to fundamental kineti… Read more

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Description

Materials Kinetics: Transport and Rate Phenomena, Second Edition provides readers with a clear understanding of how physical-chemical principles are applied to fundamental kinetic processes. The book integrates advanced concepts with foundational knowledge and cutting-edge computational approaches, demonstrating how diffusion, morphological evolution, viscosity, relaxation, and other kinetic phenomena can be applied to practical materials design problems across all classes of materials. Thermodynamics, Fick’s law, dislocation and interfacial motion, kinetics of phase separation, molecular dynamics, energy landscapes, and Monte Carlo simulation techniques are each covered.

This second edition also features brand new chapters on sintering, topological constraint theory, ab initio molecular dynamics, thermal conduction, and electrical conduction. All preexisting chapters have been revised and updated to include new exercises, and topics covered have been expanded to include examples of multicomponent diffusion, particle jump frequency, diffusion along dislocations, modeling of grain boundary diffusion, applications of phase-field modeling, applications of diffuse interface theory, and much more.

Key features

  • Covers the full breadth of materials kinetics, including organic and inorganic materials, solids and liquids, theory and experiments, macroscopic and microscopic interpretations, and analytical and computational approaches</li>
  • Updates existing chapters, incluidng new exercises and discussions of topics such as statistical mechanics, thermomagnetic and galvanomagnetic materials, the Kirkendall Effect, diffusion in cylinders and spheres, and more
  • Demonstrates how diffusion, viscosity microstructural evolution, relaxation, and other kinetic phenomena can be leveraged in the practical design of new materials

Readership

Researchers looking for a comprehensive primer/refresher resource and early graduate students in Materials Science and Engineering, as well as senior-level undergraduate course in kinetics

Table of contents

1. Thermodynamics vs. Kinetics

1.1 What is Equilibrium?

1.2 Thermodynamics vs. Kinetics

1.3 Spontaneous and Non-Spontaneous Processes

1.4 Microscopic Basis of Entropy

1.5 Introduction to Statistical Mechanics

1.6 First Law of Thermodynamics

1.7 Second Law of Thermodynamics

1.8 Third Law of Thermodynamics

1.9 Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

1.10 Summary Exercises References


2. Irreversible Thermodynamics

2.1 Reversible and Irreversible Processes

2.2 Affinity

2.3 Fluxes

2.4 Entropy Production

2.5 Purely Resistive Systems

2.6 Linear Systems

2.7 Onsager Reciprosity Theorem

2.8 Thermophoresis

2.9 Thermoelectric Materials

2.10 Electromigration

2.11 Piezoelectric Materials

2.12 Thermomagnetic Materials

2.13 Galvanomagnetic Materials

2.14 Beyond Onsager’s Approach

2.15 Summary Exercises References


3. Fick’s Laws of Diffusion

3.1 Fick’s First Law

3.2 Fick’s Second Law

3.3 Driving Forces for Diffusion

3.4 Nernst-Planck Equation

3.5 Temperature Dependence of Diffusion

3.6 Interdiffusion

3.7 Kirkendall Effect

3.8 Measuring Concentration Profiles

3.9 Tracer Diffusion

3.10 Summary Exercises References


4. Analytical Solutions of the Diffusion Equation

4.1 Fick’s Second Law with Constant Diffusivity

4.2 Plane Source in One Dimension

4.3 Method of Reflection and Superposition

4.4 Solution for an Extended Source

4.5 Bounded Initial Distribution

4.6 Method of Separation of Variables

4.7 Method of Laplace Transforms

4.8 Anisotropic Diffusion

4.9 Concentration-Dependent Diffusivity

4.10 Time-Dependent Diffusivity

4.11 Diffusion in a Cylinder

4.12 Diffusion in a Sphere

4.13 Summary Exercises References


5. Multicomponent Diffusion

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Matrix Formulation of Diffusion in a Ternary System

5.3 Solution by Matrix Diagonalization

5.4 Uphill Diffusion

5.5 Examples of Multicomponent Diffusion

5.6 Summary Exercises References


6. Numerical Solutions of the Diffusion Equation

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Dimensionless Variables

6.3 Physical Interpretation of the Finite Difference Method

6.4 Finite Differences Solution

6.5 Considerations for Numerical Solutions

6.6 Software for Numerical Solutions

6.7 Summary Exercises References


7. Atomic Models for Diffusion

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Thermally Activated Atomic Jumping

7.3 Square Well Potential

7.4 Parabolic Well Potential

7.5 Generalized Formula for Particle Jump Frequency

7.6 Particle Escape Probability

7.7 Mean Squared Displacement of Particles

7.8 Einstein Diffusion Equation

7.9 Moments of a Function

7.10 Diffusion and Random Walks

7.11 Summary Exercises References


8. Diffusion in Crystals

8.1 Atomic Mechanisms for Diffusion

8.2 Diffusivity in Metals

8.3 Correlated Walks

8.4 Defects in Ionic Crystals

8.5 Schottky and Frenkel Defects

8.6 Equilibrium Constants for Defect Reactions

8.7 Diffusion in Ionic Crystals

8.8 Diffusion Along Dislocations

8.9 Summary Exercises References


9. Diffusion in Polycrystalline Materials

9.1 Defects in Polycrystalline Materials

9.2 Diffusion Mechanisms in Polycrystalline Materials

9.3 Regimes of Grain Boundary Diffusion

9.4 Diffusion Along Stationary vs. Moving Grain Boundaries

9.5 Atomic Mechanisms of Fast Grain Boundary Diffusion

9.6 Modeling of Grain Boundary Diffusion

9.7 Diffusion Along Free Surfaces

9.8 Summary Exercises References


10. Motion of Dislocations and Interfaces

10.1 Driving Forces for Dislocation Motion

10.2 Dislocation Glide and Climb

10.3 Driving Forces for Interfacial Motion

10.4 Motion of Crystal-Vapor Interfaces

10.5 Entropy-Stabilized Oxides

10.6 Crystalline Interface Motion

10.7 Summary Exercises References


11. Morphological Evolution in Polycrystalline Materials

11.1 Driving Forces for Surface Morphological Evolution

11.2 Morphological Evolution of Isotropic Surfaces

11.3 Grooving

11.4 Plateau-Rayleigh Instability

11.5 Evolution of Anisotropic Surfaces

11.6 Particle Coarsening: Ostwald Ripening

11.7 Grain Growth in Two Dimensions

11.8 Grain Growth in Three Dimensions

11.9 Diffusional Creep

11.10 Summary Exercises References


12. Sintering

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Stages of Sintering

12.3 Sintering Mechanisms

12.4 Solid-State Sintering

12.5 Liquid Phase Sintering

12.6 Spark Plasma Sintering

12.7 Cold Sintering

12.8 Summary Exercises References


13. Diffusion in Polymers and Glasses

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Stokes-Einstein Relation

13.3 Freely Jointed Chain Model of Polymers

13.4 Reptation

13.5 Polymer Chain Kinetics

13.6 Chemically Strengthened Glass by Ion Exchange

13.7 Ion-Exchanged Glass Waveguides

13.8 Anti-Microbial Glass

13.9 Proton Conducting Glasses

13.10 Summary Exercises References


14. Kinetics of Phase Separation

14.1 Thermodynamics of Mixing

14.2 Immiscibility and Spinodal Domes

14.3 Phase Separation Kinetics

14.4 Cahn-Hilliard Equation

14.5 Phase-Field Modeling

14.6 Applications of Phase-Field Modeling

14.7 Summary Exercises References


15. Nucleation and Crystallization

15.1 Kinetics of Crystallization

15.2 Classical Nucleation Theory

15.3 Homogeneous Nucleation

15.4 Heterogeneous Nucleation

15.5 Nucleation Rate

15.6 Crystal Growth Rate

15.7 Johnson-Mehl-Avrami Equation

15.8 Time-Temperature-Transformation Diagram

15.9 Glass-Ceramics

15.10 Nucleating Agents

15.11 Summary Exercises References


16. Advanced Nucleation Theories

16.1 Limitations of Classical Nucleation Theory

16.2 Statistical Mechanics of Nucleation

16.3 Diffuse Interface Theory

16.4 Applications of Diffuse Interface Theory

16.5 Density Functional Theory

16.6 Applications of Density Functional Theory

16.7 Implicit Glass Model

16.8 Toy Landscape Model

16.9 Summary Exercises References


17. Viscosity of Liquids

17.1 Introduction

17.2 Viscosity Reference Points

17.3 Viscosity Measurement Techniques

17.4 Liquid Fragility

17.5 Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) Equation for Viscosity

17.6 Avramov-Milchev (AM) Equation for Viscosity

17.7 Adam-Gibbs Entropy Model

17.8 Mauro-Yue-Ellison-Gupta-Allan (MYEGA) Equation for Viscosity

17.9 Infinite Temperature Limit of Viscosity

17.10 Fragile-to-Strong Transition

17.11 Non-Newtonian Viscosity

17.12 Models of Non-Newtonian Viscosity

17.13 Volume Viscosity

17.14 Summary Exercises References


18. Nonequilibrium Viscosity and the Glass Transition

18.1 Introduction

18.2 The Glass Transition

18.3 Ideal Glass Transition and the Kauzmann Paradox

18.4 Thermal History Dependence of Viscosity

18.5 Modeling of Nonequilibrium Viscosity

18.6 Nonequilibrium Viscosity and Fragility

18.7 Viscosity of Medieval Cathedral Glass

18.8 Summary Exercises References


19. Topological Constraint Theory

19.1 Introduction

19.2 Constraint Counting

19.3 Rigidity Percolation Threshold

19.4 Temperature-Dependent Constraints

19.5 Calculation of Glass Transition Temperature

19.6 Calculation of Fragility Index

19.7 Composition Dependence of Viscosity

19.8 Beyond Mean-Field Theory

19.9 Summary Exercises References


20. Energy Landscapes

20.1 Potential Energy Landscapes

20.2 Enthalpy Landscapes

20.3 Landscape Kinetics

20.4 Disconnectivity Graphs

20.5 Eigenvector-Following Technique

20.6 Activation-Relaxation Technique

20.7 Nudged Elastic Band Method

20.8 ExplorerPy

20.9 Minimalist Landscape Model

20.10 Summary Exercises References


21. Broken Ergodicity

21.1 What is Ergodicity?

21.2 Deborah Number

21.3 Broken Ergodicity

21.4 Continuously Broken Ergodicity

21.5 Hierarchical Master Equation Approach

21.6 Thermodynamic Implications of Broken Ergodicity

21.7 Examples of Broken Ergodicity

21.8 Summary Exercises References


22. Master Equations

22.1 Transition State Theory

22.2 Master Equations

22.3 Degenerate Microstates

22.4 Metabasin Approach

22.5 Partitioning of the Landscape

22.5 Accessing Long Time Scales

22.6 KineticPy

22.7 Applications of the Master Equation Approach

22.8 Summary Exercises References


23. Relaxation of Glasses and Polymers

23.1 Introduction

23.2 Fictive Temperature

23.3 Tool’s Equation

23.4 Ritland Crossover Experiment

23.5 Fictive Temperature Distributions

23.6 Property Dependence of Fictive Temperature

23.7 Kinetic Interpretation of Fictive Temperature

23.8 Stretched Exponential Relaxation

23.9 Prony Series Description

23.10 Relaxation Kinetics

23.11 RelaxPy

23.12 Stress vs. Structural Relaxation

23.13 Maxwell Relation

23.14 Frequency Domain Descriptions of Relaxation

23.15 Secondary Relaxation

23.16 Summary Exercises References


24. Molecular Dynamics

24.1 Multiscale Materials Modeling

24.2 Principles of Molecular Dynamics

24.3 Interatomic Potentials

24.4 Ensembles

24.5 Integrating the Equations of Motion

24.6 Boundary Conditions and Neighbor Lists

24.7 Performing Molecular Dynamics Simulations

24.8 Thermostats

24.9 Barostats

24.10 Reactive Force Fields

24.11 Accelerated Molecular Dynamics Techniques

24.12 Tools of the Trade

24.13 Summary Exercises References


25. Monte Carlo Techniques

25.1 Introduction

25.2 Monte Carlo Integration

25.3 Monte Carlo in Statistical Mechanics

25.4 Markov Processes

25.5 The Metropolis Method

25.6 Molecular Dynamics vs. Monte Carlo

25.7 Sampling in Different Ensembles

25.8 Kinetic Monte Carlo

25.9 Applications of Kinetic Monte Carlo

25.10 Inherent Structure Density of States

25.11 Random Number Generators

25.12 Summary Exercises References


26. Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics

26.1 Introduction

26.2 The Schrödinger Equation

26.3 The Variational Principle

26.4 The Born-Oppenheimer Equation

26.5 Hartree-Fock Theory

26.6 Rayleigh-Schrödinger Perturbation Theory

26.7 The Kohn-Sham Formulation

26.8 Exchange-Correlation Energy

26.9 Pseudopotentials

26.10 Car-Parrinello Molecular Dynamics

26.11 Applications of Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics

26.12 Summary Exercises References


27. Fluctuations in Condensed Matter

27.1 What are Fluctuations?

27.2 Statistical Mechanics of Fluctuations

27.3 Fluctuations in Broken Ergodic Systems

27.4 Time Correlation Functions

27.5 Green-Kubo Relations

27.6 Dynamical Heterogeneities

27.7 Nonmonotonic Relaxation of Fluctuations

27.8 Industrial Example: Fluctuations in High Performance Display Glass

27.9 Summary Exercises References


28. Chemical Reaction Kinetics

28.1 Rate of Reactions

28.2 Order of Reactions

28.3 Equilibrium Constants

28.4 First-Order Reactions

28.5 Higher Order Reactions

28.6 Reactions in Series

28.7 Temperature Dependence of Reaction Rates

28.8 Catalysts

28.9 Heterogeneous Reactions

28.10 Solid State Transformation Kinetics

28.11 Experimental Methods

28.12 Summary Exercises References


29. Thermal Conduction

29.1 Fourier’s Law

29.2 The Heat Equation

29.3 Thermal Conductivity

29.4 Mechanisms of Thermal Conduction

29.5 Thermal Conductivity of Non-Crystalline Materials

29.6 Summary Exercises References


30. Electrical Conduction

30.1 Ohm’s Law

30.2 Electrical Resistivity and Conductivity

30.3 Electrical Conduction in Metals

30.4 Semiconductors and Insulators

30.5 Solid-State Electrolytes

30.6 Superconductors

30.7 Summary Exercises References Index

Product details

  • Edition: 2
  • Latest edition
  • Published: January 14, 2026
  • Language: English

About the author

JM

John C. Mauro

Dr. John C. Mauro is Professor and Associate Head for Graduate Education in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. John earned a BS in Glass Engineering Science (2001), BA in Computer Science (2001), and PhD in Glass Science (2006), all from Alfred University. He joined Corning Incorporated in 1999 and served in multiple roles there, including Senior Research Manager of the Glass Research department. John holds more than 50 granted US patents and is the inventor or co-inventor of several new glasses for Corning, including Corning Gorilla® Glass products. John joined the faculty at Penn State in 2017 and is currently a world-recognized leader in fundamental and applied glass science, materials kinetics, computational and condensed matter physics, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and the topology of disordered networks. He is the author of over 280 peer-reviewed publications, Editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society, winner of numerous international awards, and a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the Society of Glass Technology. John is also co-author of Fundamentals of Inorganic Glasses, 3rd ed., Elsevier (2019).
Affiliations and expertise
Professor and Associate Head for Graduate Education, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University and Editor, Journal of the American Ceramic Society

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