Search

The processes of the structure formation in Ti-V binary nanoparticles and the factors influencing the crystallization process are discussed. The objects of study were Ti-V binary nanoparticles containing N=200, 400, 800, 1520, 3000, and 5000 atoms with various compositions. The computer experiment was conducted using the molecular dynamics method. Interatomic interactions were described using the tight-binding potential. Based on a series of computer experiments, it was determined that the crystallization process of Ti-V binary nanoparticles is significantly dependent on both their size and component ratio. As the size of the nanoparticles increases, the crystallization temperature rises, and the component ratio has a substantial influence on the formation of crystalline phases. The lowest crystallization temperatures were observed at titanium-to-vanadium ratios of 25-75% and 50-50%. Larger nanoparticles also exhibit pronounced phase segregation, with FCC and HCP phases dominating depending on the titanium-to- vanadium ratio. The observed tendency to form a multilayered onion-like structure indicates a more complex structure formation process than surface segregation.

The processes of structure formation in Co-Au and Ti-V metal nanoparticles as well as factors affecting the crystallization process are considered. The objects of the study were Co-Au and Ti-V binary nanoparticles containing N = 400, 800, 1520 and 5000 atoms with the equiatomic composition. The computer experiment was carried out using method of molecular dynamics. The interatomic interaction was described by the tight-binding potential. According to the results of a series of computer experiments, it was found that the main factors influencing the possibility of obtaining crystalline phases are: the cooling rate of binary nanoparticles, their size and the size mismatch of atoms included in the composition, as well as the nature of the interaction of metal atoms. The manifestation of stability/instability in binary nanoparticles may be due to patterns of formation of crystalline phases. Moreover, the tendency to segregate one of the components in a binary system may not be the main factor determining the stability/instability of such a system.

In this work, bimetallic Cu-Ag nanoparticles of five stoichiometric compositions of various sizes were studied by molecular dynamics method using a many body EAM potential. Regularities of the structure formation are established, their characteristic features are described. In particular, in compositions with 10, 70, and 90 at.% Cu content, after the melt cooling, typical fcc structures with intersecting atomic planes of the hcp phase are formed. In compositions of 30 and 50 at.% Cu, the fraction of identified phases does not exceed 20% of the total number of atoms. A tendency to the formation of a core-shell structure was revealed in the case of a high copper content, while in the case of a high silver content, a so-called onion structure is formed. Using the caloric curves of the potential term of the internal energy, the melting and crystallization temperatures were determined. It has been established that the concentration dependences of the melting temperature of bimetallic Cu-Ag nanoparticles have a minimum corresponding to the equiatomic composition for all sizes. For the crystallization temperature, both the concentration dependences and the size dependences are less pronounced, but the minimum value of the crystallization temperature also corresponds to the equiatomic composition for all sizes; with an increase in the size of bimetallic Cu-Ag nanoparticles, a slight increase in the crystallization temperature is observed.

Various types of configurations of the Au-Cu-Pd-Pt four-component nanosystem, including complex core-shell structures, have been studied. The Monte Carlo method was used as a simulation method, the interatomic interaction was described by the tight-binding potential, i.e. the Gupta potential. According to the results of a series of computer experiments, it was found that four-component nanoparticles of this system do not tend to form a core-shell structure, even though gold atoms have an increased surface segregation. The melting temperatures for the nanosystems under study have been determined. The obtained values are in the range from 1100 K to 1250 K and weakly depend on the composition of nanoparticles (the ratio of the number of atoms). A stoichiometric composition based on these metals was found, for which, during cooling, an FCC crystal structure with inclusions of the HCP phase is formed. However, no distinctive features in the nature of segregation for this stoichiometric composition have been established. All considered stoichiometric compositions in the studied temperature range were stable with respect to decomposition.

This work studied bimetallic nanoparticles Ni@Ag and Ag@Ni with the total number of atoms 4000 by the molecular dynamics method using the tight-binding potential. The pattern of segregation and structural formation is established and its characteristics are described. Based on the analysis of the behavior of the calorie curves of the potential part of the internal energy, the melting and crystallization temperature was determined. The data obtained suggest that the processes of segregation in Ni@Ag and Ag@Ni nanoparticles are associated with the nanoparticle stability. The silver shell loses its stability above 900 K, while the nickel core remains solid and retains its structure. At the same time, in Ni675@Ag3325 nanoparticles the processes of the surface segregation of the nucleus atoms were less pronounced, whereas in Ag675@Ni3325 nanoparticles silver atoms actively segregated onto the surface of the nanoparticle. The features and fundamental differences in the processes of melting and crystallization of these nanosystems, as well as the temperature ranges of their stability, are analyzed. The relationship between the degree of intensity of segregation processes of nanoalloys during modeling and the stability of these systems is shown.

In this work, of the structure formation was investigated using Au-Ag, Ti-Al, Ti-V bimetallic nanoparticles as the patterns. These bimetallic nanoparticles have different atomic size mismatches and different crystallization temperatures. A series of molecular dynamics experiments was carried out. Based on their results, the final configurations with the lowest energy were analyzed and the concentration dependences of the mixing energy were obtained. An analysis of the concentration dependences of the mixing energy makes it possible to predict the compositions and sizes of bimetallic nanoparticles, which can exhibit instability, such as for Ti-V bimetallic nanoparticles. The asymmetry of individual concentration dependences of the mixing energy is evidence of specific structural transformations characteristic for the given composition and size. It has been established that structural segregation is characteristic for Au-Ag, Ti-Al bimetallic nanoparticles and it is actively manifested at low concentrations of a more low-melting component. The competing phases in this case are fcc and hcp phases. In addition, for the average sizes considered in the article, the dependence of the crystallization temperature on the composition of bimetallic nanoparticles was investigated.

This work studied bimetallic Au-Co nanoparticles of three stoichiometric compositions of various sizes by the molecular dynamics method using the tight-binding potential. The regularities of structure formation are established, their characteristic features are described. In particular, in compositions with 50 at% and 75 at% Au content, multiple small nuclei of local icosahedral symmetry are formed. Crystalline phases prevail only in the Co -25 at% Au composition with an increase in the particle size. Compositions are revealed in which the internal symmetry of a nanoparticle is determined by the presence of one icosahedron or a superstructure of several icosahedrons. The concentration dependences of the mixing energy of a bimetallic Au-Co nanoparticle are calculated. It is shown that there are concentrations of compositions at which bimetallic nanoalloys can exhibit instability in a certain size range. Crystallization temperatures were determined using the caloric curves of the potential part of the internal energy. It was found that the crystallization temperature demonstrates a moderate or significant, depending on the composition as well as growth with an increase in the size of bimetallic Au-Co nanoparticles.

Exemplifying on two bimetallic nanoparticles Cu — Pt and Au — Ag, the internal structure and external surface has been investigated in the process of dealloying. Equiatomic compositions with the total number of atoms Ntot = 3000 are considered. In the dealloying process half of both the copper and silver atoms were removed. The Monte Carlo method within the Metropolis scheme is used as a simulation method. The interatomic interaction was described by the tight-binding potential. As it was expected, the selective corrosion leads to the fact that the surface layer of the particle is enriched with one of the components atoms. However, the particle core retains the structure of the binary nanoalloy. We also found that as a result of the selective corrosion, a defective structure of the nanoparticle is formed. Accordingly, we assume that it is these defects (mainly vacancies) that lead to the porous structure of larger binary nanoparticles observed in experiments on the dealloying. A change in the specific surface area per unit volume or weight affects the adsorption and catalytic properties, as well as the corrosion resistance of bimetallic nanoparticles.

In this work, we performed atomistic modeling of the behavior of Co (core) – Au (shell) and Au (core) – Co (shell) during thermal exposure in order to study the stability/instability problem for the above nanostructures using the tight binding potential and two alternative computer programs based on the molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods. It has been shown that both the Co (core) – Au (shell) and Au (core) – Co (shell) structures can be stable. However, molecular dynamics results predict a short-term decay of Au2500 (core) / Co2500 (shell) nanostructures in a high-temperature region followed by a self-assembly, while the Monte Carlo method predicts the appearance of defects – cavities in the particle core and on the boundary between two components. It is concluded that the size effect can be the main factor determining stability/instability for the Co (core) – Au (shell) and Au (core) – Co (shell) structures.

Using molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation results on melting and crystallization of copper nanoparticles (temperatures and heats of phase transitions), size dependences of the melting and crystallization entropies were obtained and analyzed. Besides, a theoretical approach to the estimation of size dependence of melting and crystallization entropies was developed. It has been found that the size dependence of the melting entropy is more pronounced than that for the crystallization entropy. The conclusion was confirmed using two alternative methods of computer simulation (MD and MC).