How Crystallization Affects the Oriented Attachment of Silver Nanocrystals

GM Faccin and ZS Pereira and EZ da Silva, JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C, 125, 6812-6820 (2021).

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c10321

Oriented attachment processes between nanocrystals provide a promising route for the synthesis of mesocrystals that, although made of the same elements as their usual crystal counterparts, nevertheless possess very distinct physical and chemical properties that can be explored for technological applications. In this study, the oriented attachment process experimentally observed between silver nanocrystals is analyzed through a systematic approach involving a series of molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations elucidate how the crystallization process between silver nanocrystals leads to either imperfect oriented attachment or perfect oriented attachment, how likely those processes are to occur and how faceting affects their outcome. This information can be explored to develop new strategies aimed at triggering specific crystallization processes that take place during mesocrystal growth, thus allowing control over the characteristics of the final synthesized material.

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