Merging of metal nanoparticles driven by selective wettability of silver nanostructures

Abstract

The welding and sintering of nanomaterials is relevant, for example, to form electrical contacts between metallic particles in printed electronic devices. Usually the welding of nanoparticles is achieved at high temperatures. Here we find that merging of two different metals, silver and gold nanoparticles, occurs on contact at room temperature. The merging process was investigated by experimental and molecular dynamics simulations. We discovered that the merging of these particles is driven by selective wettability of silver nanoparticles, independent of their size and shape (spheres or rods); silver behaves as a soft matter, whereas gold as a hard surface being wetted and retaining its original morphology. During that process, the silver atoms move towards the surface of the Au nanoparticles and wrap the Au nanoparticles in a pulling up-like process, leading to the wetting of Au nanoparticles.

Joining of Silver Nanomaterials at Low Temperatures: Processes, Properties, and Applications

“…It is worth noting that even in joining the bulk materials, the initial stage is also dominated by the joining of nanoscale asperities. Therefore, experimental observation using in-situ TEM 214 combined with molecular dynamic simulation 215 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 53…”

DLS and zeta potential – What they are and what they are not?

“…Different formats of EM (electron microscopy) [89] e.g., TEM [90] is quite popular for imaging NPs. With image analysis softwares (e.g., ImageJ®) it is now possible to obtain size distributions of NPs from TEM images with information on mean size, standard deviation and overall estimation of PDI.…”

Convex Nanobending at a Moving Contact Line: The Missing Mesoscopic Link in Dynamic Wetting

“…It plays important roles in large-scale systems, such as deposition, 1 coating, 2 and oil recovery, 3 and in small-scale systems such as electronics cooling, 4À6 micro-and nanofluidics, 7,8 self-assembly, 9,10 friction, 11 and various biological processes. 12À14 Being the junction of the triple-phase interfaces, the contact line is also a classic system for the study of long-range intermolecular forces, which are of central importance in nanotechnology.…”