Research on size dependent integral melting thermodynamic properties of Cu nanoparticles

Abstract Nanometer copper possesses a broad range of applications in catalytic electrochemistry and functional materials, and these applications are intimately associated with the thermodynamic properties of melting. In this paper, we deduced the exact relationships between the integral melting enthalpy, the entropy of the nanoparticles, respectively, particle size, and discussed the influencing factors, influencing regularities and influencing a degree on the thermodynamic properties of melting. Experimentally, different sizes of Cu nanoparticles were prepared by the microwave method, the melting temperatures, melting enthalpies, and melting entropies were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results demonstrate that the integral thermodynamic properties of Cu nanoparticles decrease with the reduction of particle size, and vary linearly with the reverse particle size within the experimental size range. The experimental results are coherent with the theoretical predictions.