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Updated: May 24, 2026
Structure and Coordination Determination of Peptide-metal Complexes Using 1D and 2D 1H NMR
Published on: December 16, 2013
Icosahedral to double-icosahedral shape transition of copper clusters
Minglong Jiang1, Qun Zeng, Tingting Zhang
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
The lowest-energy isomers of Cu(N) clusters for N = 20-30 are identified using an unbiased search algorithm and density functional theory calculations. The low-energy structures over this size range are dominated by those based on a 13-atom icosahedral (I(h)) core and a 19-atom double icosahedron (DI(h)) core. A transition in the ground-state isomers from I(h)-based to DI(h)-based structures is predicted overt N = 21-23. We discuss this transition in the broader context of the growth pattern for Cu(N) over N = 2-30 that features regions of gradual evolution in which atoms successively add to the cluster surface, separated by sudden changes to a different structural organization and more compact shape. These transitions result from a competition between interatomic bonding energy and surface energy. The implications of this growth pattern for the further evolution of copper from microstructure to bulk are discussed.
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