Negative Thermal Expansion in Nanosolids

ConspectusNanosolids usually exhibit a variety of peculiar physical features due to the size effect. The unique surface electronic states and coordination structures of nanosolids make them particularly important as promising functional materials. After several decades of research effort on the preparation processes and formation mechanisms of nanomaterials, the attention of nanoscience has been shifted to their functionalization and utilization. In the development of nanodevices, the thermal expansion matching between nanosized components is becoming increasingly important for the selection of units and design of nanodevices. In nanosolids, particularities of bonding features and coordination environments lead to size-dependent thermal expansion behavior that is significantly different from the behavior of their bulk counterparts. Thus, size tuning becomes one of the most efficient techniques in tailoring lattice thermal expansion. Unlike the traditional tailoring methods like chemical doping, the modifi...