Stress development during reaction of metallic nanospheres with gas Original Research Article

The formation of stoichiometric MpXq hollow nanospheres by reaction of metallic M nanospheres with the gaseous X phase must be preceded by the formation of a sufficiently thick MpXq nanoshell on the metallic core of phase M. During this stage, high supersaturation of vacancies in the M core and/or hydrostatic stress in the M core, due to the misfit between the core and the nanoshell, are developed and provide favourable conditions for the hollow nucleation. The misfit is caused by the Kirkendall effect.