Molecular dynamics simulations of the melting of KCl nanoparticles

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to investigate the thermodynamic properties and structural changes of KCl spherical nanoparticles at various sizes (1064, 1736, 2800, 3648, 4224 and 5832 ions) upon heating. The melting temperature is dependent on both the size and shape of KCl models, and the behaviour of the first order phase transition is also found in the present work. The surface melting found here is different from the melting phenomena of KCl models or other alkali halides studied in the past. In the premelting stage, a mixed phase containing liquid and solid ions covers the surface of nanoparticles. The only peak of heat capacity spreads out a significant segment of temperature, probably exhibiting both heterogeneous melting on the surface and homogeneous melting in the core. The coexistence of two melting mechanisms, homogeneous and heterogeneous ones, in our model is unlike those considered previously. We also found that the critical Lindemann ratio of the KCl nanoparticle becomes much more stable when the size of the nanoparticle is of the order of thousands of ions. A picture of the structural evolution upon heating is studied in more detail via the radial distribution function (RDF) and coordination numbers. Our results are in a good agreement with previous MD simulations and experimental observations.