Palladium clusters deposited on the heterogeneous substrates

To improve the performance of the Pd composite membrane prepared by the cold spraying technology, it is extremely essential to give insights into the deposition process of the cluster and the heterogeneous deposition of the big Pd cluster at the different incident velocities on the atomic level. The deposition behavior, morphologies, energetic and interfacial configuration were examined by the molecular dynamic simulation and characterized by the cluster flattening ratio, the substrate maximum local temperature, the atom-embedded layer number and the surface-alloy formation. According to the morphology evolution, three deposition stages and the corresponding structural and energy evolution were clearly identified. The cluster deformation and penetrating depth increased with the enhancement of the incident velocity, but the increase degree also depended on the substrate hardness. The interfacial interaction between the cluster and the substrate can be improved by the higher substrate local temperature. Furthermore, it is found that the surface alloys were formed by exchanging sites between the cluster and substrate atoms, and the cluster atoms rearranged following as the substrate lattice arrangement from bottom to up in the deposition course. The ability and scope of the structural reconstruction are largely determined by both the size and incident energy of the impacted cluster. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.