Eurekalert April 4, 2018
To understand the forces that control energy transport at the nanoscale, researchers at SUNY Buffalo focused on small nanoparticles — those with diameters of 5 to 15 nanometers. They found that in collisions, particles of this size behave differently depending on their shape. Nanoparticles with crystal facets transfer energy well, making them an ideal component of materials designed to harvest energy; nanoparticles that are rounder in shape, with amorphous surfaces, adhere to nonlinear force laws making them especially useful for shock mitigation; the behavior of nanoparticles with sharp edges varies depending on sharpness of the edges when it comes to transporting energy. The findings provide fundamental information about nanoparticles for designing a new type of nanoparticles… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
A digital reconstruction shows how individual atoms in two largely spherical nanoparticles react when the nanoparticles collide in a vacuum. CREDIT: Yoichi Takato