Temperature dependence of the aggregation behavior of aluminum nanoparticles on liquid substrate

Abstract

© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Aluminum (Al) nanoparticle aggregates have been fabricated by thermal evaporation method on silicone oil surfaces at different substrate temperatures. The average diameter and height of the Al nanoparticles, namely Favgand Havg, are of the order of 101and 100nm, respectively. As the substrate temperature Tsincreases from 293 to 393 K, to the first order of approximation, Favgincreases exponentially and Havgincreases quickly between 333 and 373 K. By transmission electron microscopy measurement, we find that the Al nanoparticles and their aggregates exhibit amorphous structure over the whole temperature range. A simple theoretical model is established to explain the coalescence process of the nanoparticles with Ts.