Interfacial mixing during annealing of zinc oxide nanoparticle junctions

摘要

The process of forming a junction between crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles during pulsed thermal annealing in liquid tetradecane is studied using molecular dynamics simulation. Pairs of equal and unequal size particles are considered with emphasis on neck growth and atom mixing. The contact area and interface width of the junction are found to increase with heat pulse power albeit at different rates. The results suggest that it is possible to increase the junction area without significant mixing of atoms across the junction interface by tailoring the heat pulse power.