Molecular dynamics study on cold-welding of 3D nanoporous composite structures.

Nanoporous metals are a class of novel nanomaterials with potential applications in many fields. Herein, we demonstrate the cold-welding mechanism of nanoporous metals with various combinations using molecular dynamics simulations. This study shows that it is possible to cold-weld two nanoporous metals to form a novel composite material. The influence of temperature, in the range of 300-900 K, on the mechanical properties of the resultant composite material was investigated. With an increase in temperature, the weld stress and the mechanical strength of the nanoporous structures significantly decreased as an increase in disorder magnitude was observed. These results could lead to bottom-up nanofabrication and nanoassembly of combined nanoporous metals for high mechanical performance.