Gibbs free energy, surface stress and melting point of nanoparticle

Abstract

Two approaches to calculating Gibbs free energy of nanoparticle are compared. It is found that the contribution from the vibrational entropy of surface atoms of nanoparticle to its Gibbs free energy can be ignored, and Jiang et al.'s formula [J. Phys. Chem. B 105 (2001) 6275] [27] for calculating surface stress is only valid around room temperature. Furthermore, an approximate relationship between surface stress and surface free energy of nanoparticles is revealed. Finally, the reason why effect of size dependent surface energy on melting point of nanoparticle was neglected is clarified.