Crystallization in nano-confinement seeded by a nanocrystal—A molecular dynamics study

Seeded crystallization and solidification in nanoscale confinement volumes have become an important and complex topic. Due to the complexity and limitations in observing nanoscale crystallization, computer simulation can provide valuable details for supporting and interpreting experimental observations. In this article, seeded crystallization from nano-confined liquid, as represented by the crystallization of a suspended gold nano-droplet seeded by a pre-existing gold nanocrystal seed, was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations in canonical (NVT) ensemble. We found that the crystallization temperature depends on nano-confinement volume, crystal orientation, and seed size as explained by classical two-sphere model and Gibbs-Thomson effect. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.