Structure and Energy Stability of Metal Nanoparticles

ORAL

Abstract

In this work we present a theoretical model for the structural evolution and energy stability for metal nanoparticles from the small (1-2 nm) to the big ($\sim $50 nm) size ranges. We have found that the appearances of structural lattice defects as well as surface reconstructions are important factors that highly influence the growth process. A simple assembly model for a path transformation for metal nanoparticles is presented and compare with experimental evidence.

*Acknowledgements: Financial support from National Science Foundation Grant DMR-0934218 is acknowledged, as well as grants for the use of High Performance Computational Resources from the supercomputer center TACC-University of Texas at Austin.

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Authors

  • Hector Barron

    • University of Texas at San Antonio

  • Juan Pedro Palomares-Baez

    • Instituto Potosino de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica

  • Jesus Velazquez-Salazar

    • University of Texas at San Antonio

  • Jose Luis Rodriguez-Lopez

    • Instituto Potosino de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica

  • Miguel Jose-Yacaman

    • University of Texas at San Antonio
    • Dept. Physics and Astronomy, UTSA