Modeling for the study of thermophysical properties of metallic nanoparticles

Successful description and explanation of thermophysical properties at the nano level is a task of great challenge even yet today. Although great effort has been made by pioneer workers and scientists in this field but still the exact model for the prediction and explanation of these properties is lagging. In the current work, we have proposed a new model to calculate the thermophysical properties like specific heat, melting enthalpy, and melting entropy of nanomaterials, which are calculated with the help of a cohesive energy model including shape effect in addition to structure of materials at the nano level. The relaxation factor due to the dangling bond at the surface of nanoparticles is taken under consideration. The obtained results using this model is fully consistent with the available experimental findings for the above said thermophysical properties for silver (Ag), copper (Cu), Palladium (Pd), Aluminium (Al), and Indium (In). This encouraging idea has also been used to predict the nature of variation of above mentioned important thermodynamic properties of other materials at their nano level.

Design of Deep Eutectic Systems: A Simple Approach for Preselecting Eutectic Mixture Constituents

Eutectic systems offer a wide range of new (green) designer solvents for diverse applications. However, due to the large pool of possible compounds, selecting compounds that form eutectic systems is not straightforward. In this study, a simple approach for preselecting possible candidates from a pool of substances sharing the same chemical functionality was presented. First, the melting entropy of single compounds was correlated with their molecular structure to calculate their melting enthalpy. Subsequently, the eutectic temperature of the screened binary systems was qualitatively predicted, and the systems were ordered according to the depth of the eutectic temperature. The approach was demonstrated for six hydrophobic eutectic systems composed of L-menthol and monocarboxylic acids with linear and cyclic structures. It was found that the melting entropy of compounds sharing the same functionality could be well correlated with their molecular structures. As a result, when the two acids had a similar melting temperature, the melting enthalpy of a rigid acid was found to be lower than that of a flexible acid. It was demonstrated that compounds with more rigid molecular structures could form deeper eutectics. The proposed approach could decrease the experimental efforts required to design deep eutectic solvents, particularly when the melting enthalpy of pure components is not available.

Effect of Shape and Size on Curie Temperature, Debye Frequency, Melting Entropy and Enthalpy of Nanosolids

The shape and size dependent melting thermodynamics of metallic nanoparticles are predicted by application of bond theory model, free of any adjustable parameter. Thermodynamic properties like Debye frequency, Curie temperature, melting entropy and enthalpy of Al, Sn, In, Cu, β-Fe and Fe3O4 for spherical and non spherical shapes nanoparticles with different size have been studied. In this model, the effects of relaxation factor for the low dimension solids are considered. The depression in Debye frequency, Curie temperature, melting entropy and enthalpy is predicted. The model predictions are supported by the available experimental and simulation results.