The thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of nano-systems

纳米系统表现出丰富多样的结构、量子效应和相变，这是两个主要效应的结果：表面现象的重要性增加和波动的影响。我们计划开发计算机模拟技术和热力学模型来明确地解释这些特征，然后将它们应用于纳米系统中的相变研究，例如纳米颗粒的冻结和融化、小大气气溶胶的潮解以及纳米孔中的毛细凝结和空化。随着纳米系统在化学、物理、工程、生物和大气科学等各个领域变得越来越重要，我们必须开发严格的热力学和统计工具来研究它们。因此，这项研究的基本方面将对纳米科学和纳米技术产生广泛的影响。涉及地表效应的具体项目也将对各自的领域产生影响。例如，如果小液滴中晶体的表面诱导成核是结晶的主要机制，那么根据液滴的大小分布，大气成核率可能发生巨大变化。此外，表面成核的持久性可能提供了一种可能性，通过使用表面活性剂样分子来改变颗粒的表面性质，从而控制和指导结晶纳米颗粒的最终结构，增强我们构建纳米结构的能力。

Nanoscale systems exhibit a rich variety of structures, quantum effects and phase transitions as a result of two primary effects: the increased importance of surface phenomena and the influence of fluctuations. We plan to develop  computer simulation techniques and thermodynamic models that explicitly account for these features, then apply them to the study of phase transformations in nanosystems such as the freezing and melting of nanoparticles, the deliquescence of small atmospheric aerosols and capillarity condensation and cavitation in nanopores.As nanoscale systems become increasingly important in a variety of fields, including chemistry, physics, engineering, biology and atmospheric science, it is essential that we develop rigorous thermodynamic and statistical tools to study them. Consequently, the fundamental aspects of this research will have wide-ranging implications for nanoscience and nanotechnology in general. The specific projects involving surface effects will also have an impact on their respective fields. For example, if surface induced nucleation of crystals in small droplets is the dominant mechanism for crystallisation, then enormous variations in atmospheric nucleation rates can occur, depending on the size distribution of droplets. Furthermore, the persistence of surface nucleation may offer the possibility of controlling and directing the final structure of crystalline nanoparticles  through the use of surfactant-like molecules that alter the surface properties of the particle, enhancing our ability to build nanostructures.