Computer investigation of the structure of a porous SiO2 nanoparticle under uniform tension

The behavior of a (SiO2)325 nanoparticle constructed by icosahedral packing of identical blocks and subjected to uniform tension has been investigated using the molecular dynamics method. In the nanoparticle, the middle layers are characterized by the largest oscillations of the internal pressure and potential energy. As the strain increases, the number of neighboring silicon ions decreases and reaches a constant value of four at the strain Δl/l = 0.10. With an increase in the strain, the surface tension of the nanoparticle decreases and passes through a minimum at Δl/l = 0.16.