Pecularities of melting and crystallization of low-melting metal nanoparticles

The melting and crystallization processes of low-melting metals (gallium and indium) embedded into porous glasses with average pores diameters of 2 and 7 nm have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The applicable Tm and Tcr temperatures and a thermal hysteresis between these processes were determined. The hysteresis values were found to increase with reducing the average pore diameter.