Surface Energy of Nanostructural Materials with Negative Curvature and Related Size Effects

The surface energy of nanostructural materials with negative curvature and related size effects where the negative curvature of nanostructures has enabled the performance of a surface or interface from the perspective of both nanometer-scale thermodynamics and continuum mechanics. The unusual state of atoms at the inner skin of nanocavities are found to be related to the size dependence of the surface energy. The action of nanocavities in host crystals as a sink for metallic impurity atoms is proposed on the basis of the thermodynamic and kinetic approaches applied at the nanometer scale. The theoretical results demonstrate that the nanocavities in host crystals could be used as a functional unit to fabricate nanodevices. The study has also lead to the development of thermodynamics and continuum medium mechanics to predict and explain the mechanical responses of nanotubes with a change in their structures.