Surface Evolution of Cu–Ag Bimetallic Systems: From Experiments to Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Abstract

In this article, we prepare corncob-like Cu–Ag and core–shell Cu@Ag bimetallic structures by controlling the concentration of Ag and Cu salts via a galvanic replacement reaction. Moreover, the structure evolution and electrical resistivity of the Cu–Ag corncob nanoparticle deposits were investigated upon heating up to 260 °C by experiments. Afterward, the effect of the distinctiveness and arrangement (such as core@shell, bifacial Janus, and nanowire structure) on the sintering behavior of Cu–Ag systems was investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. The results revealed that both the Ag–Cu ratio and the special structure in the initial stage as well as the sintering temperature play important roles in the morphological formation. Despite limited experimental observation of the structure evolution during sintering, the MD simulation provides a powerful tool to monitor the atom trajectory. The combined information from our experiment and molecular dynamics (MD) results will give guidelines for choosing the preferred structure of Cu–Ag systems when aiming at certain sintering properties.