Growth of Ag nanometre-sized particles in solution: molecular dynamics simulations

Abstract

This work focuses on the growth of nanometre-sized Ag clusters in solution. Moleculardynamics simulations have been employed to gain the necessary detail on the dynamics ofsolute species and to study the mechanistic features of the processes governing theassociation of solute atoms in aggregates. Supersaturated liquid solutions of Ag intetrachloromethane have been considered. A systematic variation of the concentration ofAg atoms in solution permitted us to show the different mechanistic scenarios responsiblefor the growth processes of solid Ag clusters. It is shown that such processes are limited bythe thermal diffusion of solute in the solution bulk at relatively low supersaturationdegrees, whereas the growth is limited by interfacial effects at relatively highsupersaturation degrees.