Abstract
In crystallization, nanoparticle aggregation often leads to the formation of orderly structures, even single crystals. Why can nanoparticles form orderly structures and what is the mechanism dominating their orderly aggregation? These questions raise interesting research problems, but the occurrences that could answer them often fail to be directly observed, since the interaction among particles is invisible. Here, we report an attempt to discover the interaction and aggregation of building blocks through a computer simulation, focusing on the shape effect of building blocks on the aggregation. Four types of silver building blocks were selected, each consisting of (100) and (111) facets, but the ratio of these two facets was different. It was found that the area of facets played an important role in selecting the aggregation mode. The facets with a large area and high energy had a high possibility of aggregation. In addition, the effects of solvent viscosity and temperature were also investigated. High viscosity and low temperature enhanced the orderliness of aggregation. This paper reports a detailed view of the aggregation process of silver nanoparticles, which is expected to be helpful in understanding the structure evolution of materials in nonclassical crystallization.
Highlights
The structures of particles determine their physical and chemical properties
This paper reports a detailed view of the aggregation process of silver nanoparticles, which is expected to be helpful in understanding the structure evolution of materials in nonclassical crystallization
In 1998, Penn and Banfield [12,13] investigated the growth of titania nanocrystals under hydrothermal conditions through high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and found that the crystal grew through oriented aggregation or oriented attachment (OA)
Summary
The structures of particles determine their physical and chemical properties. Silver particles with various shapes, including spheres, rods, wires, dendrites and flowers, have been constructed and show diverse properties in the fields of catalysis [1,2], photonics [3], and biology [4,5]. Different approaches have been developed to synthesize silver particles with controllable morphologies, which include replacement reaction [6], electrodeposition [7], colloidal reduction [8], seed-mediated growth [9], and so on. There has already tremendous been progress in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles with designed sizes and shapes over the past few decades, the mechanism dominating the structure evolution is still at the infant stage [10,11]. In 1998, Penn and Banfield [12,13] investigated the growth of titania nanocrystals under hydrothermal conditions through high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and found that the crystal grew through oriented aggregation or oriented attachment (OA)
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