Molecular dynamics simulations of the melting of nickel nanclusters

The melting process of nickel nanoclusters have been studied by using molecular dynamics simulations with the quantum Sutten-Chen many-body potentials to explore the size effects on the melting point and surface energy of nanoclusters.The present calculations show that the melting temperature of nickel cluster is much lower than that of bulk counterpart.The melting process of nanoclusters starts from the surface layer to the interior,and finally the nanowire becomes entirely a disordered liquid when the temperature reaches the melting point.For the nanometer region we studied,it is evidently linear relation between melting point and reciprocal of diameter.Surface energy of nanocluster decreases with the increasing diameter,and is higher than that of bulk counterpart.