We show how standard Metadynamics coupled with classical Molecular Dynamics can be successfully applied to sample the configurational and free energy space of metallic and bimetallic nanopclusters via the implementation of collective variables related to the pair distance distribution function of the nanoparticle itself. As paradigmatic examples we show an application of our methodology to Ag 147 , Pt 147 and their alloy Ag shell Pt core at 1:1 and 2:1 chemical compositions. The proposed scheme is not only able to reproduce known structural transformation pathways, as the five and the six square-diamond mechanisms both in pure and core-shell nanoparticles but also to predict a new route connecting icosahedron to anti-cuboctahedron.
Abstract. Predicting the morphological stability of nanoparticles is an essential step towards the accurate modelling of their chemophysical properties. Here we investigate solid-solid transitions in monometallic clusters of 0.5-2.0 nm diameter at finite temperatures and we report the complex dependence of the rearrangement mechanism on the nanoparticle's composition and size. The concerted Lipscomb's DiamondSquare-Diamond mechanisms which connects the decahedral or the cuboctahedral to the icosahedral basins, take place only below a material dependent critical size above which surface diffusion prevails and leads to low-symmetry and defected shapes still belonging to the initial basin.
A multiscale approach, based on the combination of CALPHAD and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, is applied in order to understand the melting transition taking place in CuPt nanoalloys. We found that in systems containing up to 1000 atoms, the morphology adopted by the nanoparticles causes the icosahedral CuPt to melt at temperatures 100 K below that of the other morphologies, if the chemical composition contains less than 30% of Pt. We show that the solid-to-liquid transition in CuPt nanoparticles of a radius equal to or greater than 3 nm could be studied using classical tools.
On the basis of ab initio calculations, we present a new parametrisation of the Vervisch-Mottet-Goniakowski (VMG) potential (Vervisch et al 2002 Phys. Rev. B 24 245411) for modelling the oxide-metal interaction. Applying this model to mimic the finite temperature behaviour of large platinum icosahedra deposited on the pristine MgO(1 0 0), we find the nanoparticle undergoes two solid-solid transitions. At 650 K the 'squarisation' of the interface layer, while a full reshaping towards a fcc architecture takes place above 950 K. In between, a quite long-lived intermediate state with a (1 0 0) interface but with an icosahedral cap is observed. Our approach reproduces experimental observations, including wetting behaviour and the lack of surface diffusion.
Based on first-principles calculations, the structural stability and magnetic variety of Pt nanoparticles encapsulated in a NaY zeolite are investigated. Among 50 stable isomers in the gas phase, due to geometrical constraints, only about 1/3 of those clusters can be inserted in the zeolite pores. Severe structural rearrangements occur depending on whether the solid angle at the Pt vertex bound to the super-cage is larger than 2 sr (i.e., icosahedron). The most relevant example is the structural instability of the icosahedron and, when including van der Waals dispersion forces the opening of the gas phase global minimum moves towards a new L-shaped cubic wire, otherwise unstable. The total magnetisation of the encapsulated Pt decreases due to the stabilisation of less coordinated isomers, with the majority of clusters characterised by a total magnetisation of 2μ, while the majority of free clusters exhibit a threefold value. This analysis allows the understanding of the magnetic behaviour observed in recent experiments through the variety of the isomers which can be accommodated in the zeolite pore.
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