title: Growth mechanisms of metal nanoparticles via first principles.
abstract: Despite the important applications of nanoparticles (NPs), their mechanisms of growth still remain elusive. Herein we elucidate the growth mechanisms of silver NPs via first-principle calculations to elucidate anisotropic growth and shape selectivity by a symmetry-break mechanism. The capping agent (citrate) can play a multifunctional action: under certain conditions, it blocks NP growth via an electrostatic or a van der Waals stabilization mechanism, and under others, it induces NP growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA. gmpourmp@udel.edu
authors.forename: Giannis
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mpourmpakis
authors.forename: Dionisios G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Vlachos