A description of the frustration responsible for a polyamorphism situation in triphenyl phosphite

The description of the glacial state of triphenyl phosphite is given in terms of crystallites of the stable crystalline phase embedded in the matrix of non-transformed supercooled liquid. New calorimetric data are the support for the interpretation of the transformation of the supercooled liquid into the glacial state as an abortive crystallization inherent to a high nucleation rate at temperatures where the crystal growth is very slow. The subsequent high-density nucleation frustrates crystallization leading to an extremely stable sub-microcrystalline (glacial) state. Such usual arguments for deeply supercooled systems allow us to understand the description of the glacial state obtained from experimental investigations, and to determine the origin of the frustration responsible for the relative stability of the glacial state without considerations about structural frustration.