Search of a model for melting temperature and cohesive energy of nanomaterials

Abstract

Three different models viz. Nanda model, Jiang model and BK model with different physical origin have been used to study the size dependence of melting temperature and cohesive energy of nanomaterials. A critical analysis demonstrates that the suitability of Jiang model or Nanda model depends on the material considered. Moreover, BK model works well for different nanomaterials considered in the present work. This demonstrates the suitability of the models proposed earlier. We therefore, extend the BK model for the size dependence of cohesive energy and Debye temperature. Nanda model has been found to give the reverse trends for the size dependence of cohesive energy as observed experimentally. However, Jiang model and BK model give similar trends of variation as observed experimentally. A comparison of the computed results with the experimental data demonstrates the superiority of the BK model. We also extend the BK model for the study of size dependence of Debye temperature. A good agreement between theory and experiment demonstrates the validity of the model proposed.