The dimensional dependences of the thermophysical properties of nanoparticles: Surface tension

Within the framework of the thermodynamics of a two-phase system with a curved surface, an equation is obtained for the size dependence of the surface tension of a spherical particle at the boundary with vapor, taking the effect of phase equilibrium on the temperature into account. Numerical calculations have been carried out for liquid nanodroplets of a number of metals. A nonmonotonic change in the surface tension with a decrease in the radius of the tension surface has been established: an increase in the region of large sizes and a decrease in the region of small ones.