Melting of iron nanoparticles embedded in silica prepared by mechanical milling

For decades, experimental studies on the size-dependent melting of metals are regretfully limited to some eight archetypal examples. In this work, to expand this slim range of materials, the melting behavior of Fe nanoparticles embedded in SiO₂ prepared by using mechanical milling are investigated. Effects of factors in sample preparation on the size, isolation and thermal stability of Fe nanoparticles are systematically studied. On this basis, the size-dependent melting of Fe is successfully traced: for Fe nanoparticles with a diameter of about 15 nm, the melting point depression is 30 °C in comparison with bulk Fe, in accordance with our recent theoretical prediction.