Simulation of noble metal nanocluster systems formation during deposition from a colloid solution

Abstract

A model was proposed for the convective flow of the liquid phase of a colloidal solution of glycerol and noble metal nanoparticles (Ag, Au, Ag/Au) near the substrate. The diffusion approximation is used to describe the formation of nanocluster systems on a substrate. The diffusion-limited aggregation model was implemented by applying a cellular automaton in the Neumann neighborhood. A diverse structure of model systems of nanoclusters, which adequately describes the structural features of the experimental samples, was obtained by varying the aggregation probability parameter. The proposed models can be useful for calibrating the parameters of the experimental production of systems of noble metal nanoclusters, as well as describing in the first approximation the processes that have a decisive effect on nanocluster structures.