Theoretical Investigation on the Thermal Stability of Hollow Gold Nanoparticles

The thermal stability of hollow gold nanoparticles has been studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. On the basis of the MD simulation results, the hollow nanoparticles have been classified into three categories, namely, stable, half-stable, and unstable systems. The stability of hollow nanoparticles strongly depends on the wall thickness and the aspect ratio, defined as the outer radius over the wall thickness. These features can be further presented in a two-dimensional phase space according to a large number of simulations. By using this stability diagram, the collapsing mechanism has been proposed. © 2009 American Chemical Society.