Effect of pressure on melting and solidification of metal nanoparticles

Abstract

A thermodynamic model was developed to clarify the dependence of melting temperature on hydrostatic pressure in the nanoscopic scale. It is based on the classic Clausius–Clapeyron relation and the size dependence of the melting entropy. The melting of nanoparticles in matrix with coherent and incoherent boundaries was also under consideration. It was shown that external hydrostatic pressure leads to the appearance of extrema of the melting temperature that was considered as a function of the characteristic size of nanoparticles.