Surface tension of metallic glass forming liquid nanoparticles

Abstract

We report the surface tension γ of Cu64Zr36 metallic glass liquid nanoparticles calculated using molecular dynamics simulation. We carried out a systematic investigation to obtain the dependence of γ on particle size and temperature. The values of γ are between 0.85 and 1.25 N/m, with a negative coefficient of temperature dependence that covers both the liquid and (amorphous) solid state. The particle size dependence is extracted through the Tolman length δ, which takes the values between 0.53 and 0.83 Å. The surface tension is influenced by temperature, sphere size, and surface chemical segregation.