A Theoretical Model for Digestive Ripening

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

10-2-2007

Department

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Abstract

Recently, gram quantities of monodisperse gold or silver nanoparticles were reported to be produced through a digestive ripening process, in which colloidal particles of size 2 to 40 nm are transformed to nearly monodisperse particles of 4 - 5 nm diameter. Digestive ripening, an example for an inverse Ostwald ripening process, is a puzzling phenomenon since it appears to go against the usual capillary effect, i.e., reduction of interfacial free energy. A theoretical model is presented, which accounts for the monodisperse state of such nanoparticles by considering the effect of charges on the particles and thus electrostatic energy during particle size evolution.

Publication Title

Materials Science Forum

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