Substrate effect on the melting temperature of gold nanoparticles

Previous experimental, molecular dynamics, and thermodynamic researches on the melting temperature of Au nanoparticles on tungsten substrate provide entirely different results. To account for the substrate effect upon the melting point of nanoparticles, three different substrates were tested by using a thermodynamic model: tungsten, amorphous carbon, and graphite. The results reveal that the melting point suppression of a substrate-supported Au nanoparticle is principally ruled by the free surface-to-volume ratio of the particle or the contact angle between the particle and the substrate. When the contact angle theta is less than 90 degrees, a stronger size-dependent melting point depression compared with those for free nanoparticles is predicted; when the contact angle theta is greater than 90 degrees, the melting temperature of the supported Au nanoparticles are somewhat higher than those for free nanoparticles. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4729910]