Computational nano-morphology: Modeling shape as well as size

Although great advances have been made in controlling the size of nanoparticles, variations of some properties still remain due to a dependence of the property not only on size, but also on the morphology. Therefore, nano-morphology must be carefully controlled to reliably synthesize nanoparticles with uniform properties. Here, a thermodynamic model designed to describe the shape of nanoparticle as a function of size and chemical environment will be outlined. It will be shown that the model may be used to explain how the shapes of nanoparticles differ from their macroscopic counterparts, and to predict the morphology of nanoparticles under desired conditions.