We employ the well-tempered parallel-bias metadynamics algorithm to study the stability of nanoparticles in a lattice gas for crystallization from solution. The model allows us to give a description for the transition from amorphous to crystalline nanoparticles by introducing parameters directly related to the surface tensions of the two phases and also the differences of the entropy per particle in each phase. By examining the parameter space, we find a critical cluster size of crystalline stability, whose temperature and size dependencies follow the Gibbs-Thomson equation. An additional melting point depression due to cluster surface fluctuations is observed, leading to a non-classical nucleation barrier of cluster growth.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.