About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T26: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Controlled Synthesis, Processing, and Applications of Structural and Functional Nanomaterials
|
| Presentation Title |
Size Effects on Interfacial Thermodynamics of Oxide Nanoparticles and Nanoceramics |
| Author(s) |
Ricardo Castro |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Ricardo Castro |
| Abstract Scope |
Nanoscale effects increasingly govern material behavior as characteristic dimensions fall below ~20–30 nm, where a significant fraction of atoms reside within interfacial regions (≈0.5 nm from surfaces or grain boundaries). While thermodynamic models often treat interfacial energies as size-invariant when describing phenomena such as phase stability, coarsening, and sintering, this assumption becomes questionable at the nanoscale due to kink formation and morphology-driven variations in local atomic environments. In this work, we present calorimetric measurements that directly probe the evolution of surface and grain boundary energies in zirconium oxide as a model system. Our results reveal a clear increase in interfacial energies with decreasing particle size. This size dependence is further modulated by dopant chemistry, particularly when segregation to interfaces occurs. These findings provide new insight into nanoscale thermodynamics and offer practical guidance for tailoring stability and processing behavior in oxide ceramics. |