Eur. Phys. J. D 43, 11-14 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2007-00057-1

Thermal instability of decahedral structures in platinum nanoparticles

¹ MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, 6001 Wellington, New Zealand
² Industrial Research Ltd, 6009 Lower Hutt, New Zealand

Corresponding author: ^a s.hendy@irl.cri.nz

Received: 27 July 2006
Published online: 24 May 2007

Abstract

We conduct molecular dynamics simulations of 887 and 1389-atom decahedral platinum nanoparticles using an embedded atom potential. By constructing microcanonical caloric curves, we identify structural transitions from decahedral to fcc in the particles prior to melting. The transitions take place during phase coexistence and appear to occur via melting of the decahedral structure and subsequent recrystallisation into the fcc structure.