Melting of isolated tin nanoparticles

The melting of isolated neutral tin cluster distributions with mean sizes of about 500 atoms has been investigated in a molecular beam experiment by calorimetrically measuring the clusters' formation energies as a function of their internal temperature. For this purpose the possibility to adjust the temperature of the clusters' internal degrees of freedom by means of the temperature of the cluster source's nozzle was exploited. The melting point of the investigated tin clusters was found to be lowered by 125 K and the latent heat of fusion per atom is reduced by 35% compared to bulk tin. The melting behavior of the isolated tin clusters is discussed with respect to the occurrence of surface premelting.     

Grain boundary premelting of monolayer ices in 2D nano-channels

ABSTRACT

We employ molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations to study grain boundary (GB) premelting in ices confined in two-dimensional hydrophobic nano-channels. Premelting transitions are observed in symmetric tilt GBs in monolayer ices and involve the formation of a premelting band of liquid phase water with a width that grows logarithmically as the melting temperature is approached from below, consistent with the existing theory of GB premelting. The premelted GB is found rough for a broad range of temperature below the melting temperature, the two ice-premelt interfaces bounding the melted GB are engaged with long wave-length parallel coupled fluctuations. Based on current MD simulation study, one may expect GB premelting transitions exist over a wide range of low dimensional phases of confined ice and shows important consequences for crystal growth of low dimensional ices.     

Na(n)(5<=n<=10)小团簇相变

采用紧密结合的分子动力学模型,对Na(n)(5<=n<=10)小团簇的键长涨落、势能、热容量等熔化性质在50K到1500K温区进行了模拟研究,结果表明：它们发生两次相变,一种在230K到300K的温度范围内,依次有块体玻璃态转变;一种在550K到870K温度段,依次经历了熔化相变.同时也得到随着团簇体系的减小,势能由下向上排列的曲线,即体系的势能由低变高.     

Structure,energetic and phase transition of small nickel-palladium heterogeneous clusters

Molecular dynamics simulation (MD) with Sutton-Chen potential for palladium-palladium, nickel-nickel and palladium-nickel interactions has been used to generate the minimum energy structures and to study the thermodynamic and dynamic properties of mixed transition metal cluster motifs of Ni _n Pd_(13?n) for n ≤ 13. Thirteen particle icosahedral clusters of neat palladium and nickel atoms were first reproduced accordingly with the results in literature. Then in the palladium icosahedra, each palladium atom has been successively replaced by nickel atom. Calculation is repeated for both palladium-centered and nickel-centered clusters. It is found that the nickel-centered clusters are more stable than the palladium-centered clusters and cohesive energy increases along the palladium end to nickel end. Phase transition of each cluster from one end-species to the other end-species is studied by means of caloric curve, root mean square bond fluctuation and heat capacity. Trend in variation of melting temperature is opposite to the energy trend. Palladium-centered cluster shows a premelting at low temperature due to the solid-solid structural transition. Species-centric order parameters developed by Hewage and Amar is used to understand the dynamic behavior in the solid-solid transition of palladium-centered cluster to more stable nickel-centered cluster (premelting). This species-centric order parameter calculation further confirmed the stability of nickel-centered species over those of palladium-centered species and solid-solid structural transition at low temperature.     

缺陷对单壁碳纳米管熔化与预熔化的影响

利用分子动力学模拟研究了具有几种常见缺陷的单壁碳纳米管的熔化与预熔化性质. 研究结果表明, 类似于纳米颗粒和聚合物, 碳纳米管发生熔化时的Lindemann指数为003, 远低于晶体熔化的判据01—015 使用Lindemann指数, 得出标准碳纳米管的熔化温度为4800K左右, 而带缺陷的碳纳米管的熔化总是从缺陷处开始, 并且缺陷会影响碳纳米管局部的熔化温度, 导致局部预熔化. Stone-Wales缺陷在2600K引起碳纳米管的局部熔化,空位缺陷导致的局部熔化温度在3200K, 而具有硅替位缺陷的碳纳米管在3800K以下具有很好的热稳定性. 关键词： 熔化 预熔化 缺陷 碳纳米管     

应变效应对金属Cu表面熔化影响的分子动力学模拟

采用Mishin镶嵌原子势，通过分子动力学方法模拟了金属Cu 的(110)表面在不同应变下的熔 化行为，分析了表面熔化过程中系统结构组态和能量的变化以及固液界面迁移情况.金属Cu 的(110)表面在低于热力学熔点的温度下发生预熔化，准液体层的厚度随温度升高而增加.当 温度高于热力学熔点时，固液界面的移动速度与温度成正比，外推得到热力学熔点为1380K ，与实验结果1358K吻合良好.应变效应（包括拉伸和压缩）导致热力学熔点降低，并促进表 面预熔化进程.在相同温度条件下，准液体层的厚度随应变绝对值的增加而增大.应变效应导 致的固相自由能增加是金属Cu(110)表面热稳定性下降的主要因素，且表面应力和应变方向 的异同也会影响表面预熔化的进程. 关键词： 表面预熔化 热力学熔点 表面应力 分子动力学     

Superheating in metal nanoparticles with non-melting surfaces

We construct microcanonical caloric curves for aluminium nanoparticles with non-melting surface facets and diameters of up to 11 nm using molecular dynamics simulations. We find that fcc aluminium particles can be superheated above the bulk melting temperature, but only for a finite range of particle sizes i.e. diameters between 5–9 nm. We also observe a critical particle size where solid-liquid phase coexistence becomes stable, and a second larger critical size where premelted (100) facets can coexist with solid (111) facets. Ultimately, it is the premelting of the (100) facets that appears to limit the superheating effect in these particles.     

Atomic mechanism of homogeneous melting of bcc Fe at the limit of superheating

Atomic mechanism of homogeneous melting of bcc Fe is studied via monitoring spatiotemporal arrangements of the liquid-like atoms, which are detected by the Lindemann criterion of melting, during the heating process. Calculations are performed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Calculations show that liquid-like atoms occur randomly in the crystalline matrix at temperature far below the melting point due to local instability of the crystalline lattice. Number of liquid-like atoms increases with increasing temperature and they have a tendency to form clusters. Subsequently, a single percolated liquid-like cluster is formed in the crystalline model and at the melting point 99% atoms in the model become liquid-like to form a liquid phase. Melting is also accompanied by the sudden changes in various static and thermodynamic quantities. However, total melting is reached just at the point above the melting one. Three characteristic temperatures of the homogeneous melting of bcc Fe are determined.     

Single impurity effect on the melting of nanoclusters

We show by molecular dynamics simulations that the melting temperature of clusters can be tuned by selective doping. In fact, a single Ni or Cu impurity in Ag icosahedral clusters considerably increases the melting temperature even for sizes of more than a hundred atoms. The upward shift is correlated to the strain relaxation induced by a small central impurity in icosahedral clusters.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of surface melting behaviours of the V（110） plane

The modified analytic embedded-atom method and molecular dynamics simulations are applied to the investigation of the surface premelting and melting behaviours of the V（110） plane by calculating the interlayer relaxation, the layer structure factor and atomic snapshots in this paper. The results obtained indicate that the premelting phenomenon occurs on the V（110） surface at about 1800K and then a liquid-like layer, which approximately keeps the same thickness up to 2020K, emerges on it. We discover that the temperature 2020K the V（110） surface starts to melt and is in a completely disordered state at the temperature of 2140K under the melting point for the bulk vanadium.     

Role of vacancies of a strongly strained crystal in the melting process

It has been shown that, apart from classical vacancies formed as a result of the thermal fluctuations, a crystal can contain so-called nonclassical vacancies of nonfluctuation nature. The latter vacancies appear when the temperature exceeds a critical value T _C . The factor responsible for their formation is a mechanical instability of an ideal crystal. The temperature T _C is a second-order phase transition point. The vacancies formed as a result of this phase transition are joined together into small clusters with sizes of the order of several atoms. The above transition makes a substantial contribution to the premelting process observed experimentally.     

Ag-Cu双金属团簇中Ag原子偏析行为的 分子动力学研究

采用了恒温分子动力学方法系统模拟研究了不同尺寸不同组分的Ag-Cu双金属团簇的退火过程。分析低温退火结构可得团簇中Ag原子的偏析行为：在Ag原子所占比率较少时,Ag原子全部占据在团簇表面;随着Ag原子数的增多,直到Ag和Cu的比率接近时,绝大多数Ag原子仍占据在团簇表面;这与实验观测Ag-Cu混合团簇中Ag原子的偏析行为完全一致。通过细致研究Ag-Cu双金属团簇中Ag原子的偏析行为与团簇尺寸、组分和温度的关系发现：当Ag原子所占比重明显少于Cu原子时,在各不同尺寸下,Ag原子偏析温度点均高于熔点,即在熔点以上一定温度范围内仍会出现Ag原子的偏析现象;当Ag原子所占比重明显多于Cu原子时,在各不同尺寸下,体系偏析温度点均低于团簇熔点;对于较大尺寸团簇,在Ag原子所占比重接近于Cu原子时,体系偏析温度点与团簇熔点相同。     

Melting, premelting, and structural transitions in size-selected aluminum clusters with around 55 atoms

Heat capacities have been determined for unsupported aluminum clusters, Al49(+) - Al63(+), from 150 to 1050 K. Peaks in the heat capacities due to melting occur between 450 and 650 K (well below the bulk melting point of 933 K). The peaks for Al+51 and Al+52 are bimodal, suggesting the presence of a premelting transition where the surface of the clusters melts around 100 K before the core. For clusters with n > 55 the melting temperatures suddenly drop, and there is a dip in the heat capacities due to a transition between two solid forms before the clusters melt.     

Au纳米薄膜的熔化机理及其结构演变的分子动力学模拟

利用分子动力学模拟详细研究了不同厚度的Au纳米薄膜的熔化机理和结构演变. 模拟结果表明所有Au纳米薄膜的熔化行为分为两个阶段,即表面预熔和均相熔化. 只有最外层原子出现了预熔化行为, 其他内层原子在均相熔化之前始终保持稳定的固态,这与零维的Au纳米团簇和一维的Au纳米线的预熔化行为是不同的. 同时Au纳米薄膜的熔化温度随着薄膜厚度的增加而升高. 在预熔化过程中,在原子水平上发现了所有的Au纳米薄膜的f100g晶面向f111g晶面转变的表面重建过程. 对于最薄的L2纳米薄膜,当温度低于500 K 时表面应力不能诱导这样的表面重建. 然而一维的Au纳米线在更低温度下就能够观察到了由表面应力诱导的表面重建过程. 这主要是因为Au纳米线具有更高的比表面积所导致的. 另外研究结果还表明当模拟温度达到某一特定值时,由双原子层组成的Au纳米薄膜能够分裂成一维的纳米线.     

铂纳米粒子热稳定性的原子级模拟研究

本文采用分子动力学结合嵌入原子多体势,模拟了铂纳米粒子在升温过程中的热稳定性和熔化机制,并利用共近邻分析方法分析了它的微结构演化过程。模拟的结果表明：铂纳米粒子的熔点明显低于体材料的熔点;由于表面层原子的结合力较弱,在升温过程中表面会首先出现预熔;纳米粒子的熔化是从表面层开始的,并随着温度的升高,熔化的表面层会逐渐向内部扩展,最终导致纳米粒子整体转变为液态结构;当温度低于表面预熔温度时,纳米粒子保持良好的晶态结构。     

Hetero-phase fluctuations in the pre-melting region in ionic crystals

The theory of the pre-melting phenomena in ionic crystals on the basis of the concept of the hetero phase fluctuation has been applied to KCl and AgCl crystal. The large scale molecular dynamics simulations (MD) in KCl and AgCl crystals are also performed to examine the ionic configuration in premelting region in the vicinity of their melting points. The size of the liquid like clusters are estimated by the theory and MD. The structural features of liquid like clusters are discussed by MD results using the Lindemann instability condition. The ionic conductivities in the pre-melting region are also discussed on the same theoretical basis.     

Phase transitions in simple clusters

Formation of the liquid state of clusters with pairwise interactions between atoms is examined within the framework of the void model, in which configurational excitation of atoms results from formation of voids. Void parameters are found from computer simulation by molecular dynamics methods for Lennard-Jones clusters. From that standpoint, phase transitions are analyzed in terms of two aggregate states. This information allows us to divide the entropy jump during a solid-liquid phase transition into two parts: one corresponds to configurational excitation at zero temperature and the other arises from thermal vibrations of atoms. The latter part contributes approximately 40% for Lennard-Jones clusters consisting of 13 and 55 atoms, increasing to 56% for bulk inert gases. These magnitudes explain the validity of melting criteria based on thermal motion of atoms, even though the distinctive mechanism of this phase transition results from configurational excitations. It is shown that the void concept allows analyzing various aspects of the liquid state of clusters including the existence of a limiting freezing temperature below which no metastable liquid state exists, as well as the existence and properties of glassy states that may exist below the freezing limit.     

Structural and thermal stabilities of Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles and their arrays:A molecular dynamics simulation

Thermal stability of core-shell nanoparticles(CSNPs)is crucial to their fabrication processes,chemical and physical properties,and applications.Here we systematically investigate the structural and thermal stabilities of single Au@Ag CSNPs with different sizes and their arrays by means of all-atom molecular dynamics simulations.The formation energies of all Au@Ag CSNPs we reported are all negative,indicating that Au@Ag CSNPs are energetically favorable to be formed.For Au@Ag CSNPs with the same core size,their melting points increase with increasing shell thickness.If we keep the shell thickness unchanged,the melting points increase as the core sizes increase except for the CSNP with the smallest core size and a bilayer Ag shell.The melting points of Au@Ag CSNPs show a feature of non-monotonicity with increasing core size at a fixed NP size.Further simulations on the Au@Ag CSNP arrays with 923 atoms reveal that their melting points decrease dramatically compared with single Au@Ag CSNPs.We find that the premelting processes start from the surface region for both the single NPs and their arrays.     

Molecular-dynamics investigation of structural transformations of a Cu201 cluster in its melting process

We perform molecular-dynamics calculations to investigate the structural transformation of a copper cluster containing 201 atoms in its melting process within the framework of the embedded-atom method (EAM). Concerning melting, the obtained results reveal that its structural changes are different from those of larger-size clusters containing several hundreds or more atoms and smaller-size clusters containing tens of atoms. The melting process of this Cu₂₀₁ cluster involves three stages, firstly some atoms in inner regions of this cluster move into outer regions accompanying the structural transformation of the local atom packing, followed by the continuous interchange of atomic positions, and finally this cluster is wholly disordered. During the temperature increase, the structural changes of different regions determined by atom density profiles result in apparent increases in internal energy. By decomposing peaks of pair distribution functions (PDFs) according to the pair analysis (PA) technique, the local structural patterns are identified for the melting of this cluster.