Melting and Freezing of Metal Clusters
- 5 May 2011
- journal article
- Published by Annual Reviews in Annual Review of Physical Chemistry
- Vol. 62 (1), 151-172
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-physchem-032210-103454
Abstract
Recent developments allow heat capacities to be measured for size-selected clusters isolated in the gas phase. For clusters with tens to hundreds of atoms, the heat capacities determined as a function of temperature usually have a single peak attributed to a melting transition. The melting temperatures and latent heats show large size-dependent fluctuations. In some cases, the melting temperatures change by hundreds of degrees with the addition of a single atom. Theory has played a critical role in understanding the origin of the size-dependent fluctuations, and in understanding the properties of the liquid-like and solid-like states. In some cases, the heat capacities have extra features (an additional peak or a dip) that reveal a more complex behavior than simple melting. In this article we provide a description of the methods used to measure the heat capacities and provide an overview of the experimental and theoretical results obtained for sodium and aluminum clusters.Keywords
This publication has 99 references indexed in Scilit:
- Determination of structural transitions of atomic clusters from local and global bond orientational order parametersThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 2007
- Melting of Aluminum Cluster Cations with 31−48 Atoms: Experiment and TheoryThe Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2007
- Ab initio simulation of Na+59 and Na+93Computational Materials Science, 2006
- On the premelting features in sodium clustersThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 2004
- Phase transitions in clustersComptes Rendus Physique, 2002
- Mechanisms of phase transitions in sodium clusters: From molecular to bulk behaviorThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 2000
- Temperature dependence of the optical response of sodium cluster ionswithPhysical Review B, 1999
- Evidence for a size-dependent melting of sodium clustersThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 1994
- Freezing, melting, nonwetting, and coexistence in (KCl)32The Journal of Chemical Physics, 1993
- Photodissociation kinetics of aluminum cluster ions: Determination of cluster dissociation energiesThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 1989