Crystallization in nano-confinement seeded by a nanocrystalA molecular dynamics study uri icon

abstract

  • Seeded crystallization and solidification in nanoscale confinement volumes have become an important and complex topic. Due to the complexity and limitations in observing nanoscale crystallization, computer simulation can provide valuable details for supporting and interpreting experimental observations. In this article, seeded crystallization from nano-confined liquid, as represented by the crystallization of a suspended gold nano-droplet seeded by a pre-existing gold nanocrystal seed, was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations in canonical (NVT) ensemble. We found that the crystallization temperature depends on nano-confinement volume, crystal orientation, and seed size as explained by classical two-sphere model and Gibbs-Thomson effect.

published proceedings

  • Journal of Applied Physics

author list (cited authors)

  • Pan, H., & Grigoropoulos, C.

citation count

  • 6

complete list of authors

  • Pan, Heng||Grigoropoulos, Costas

publication date

  • March 2014