platelets melt within a narrow range of 10 °C of the bulk melting temperature. The melting point depression of these platelets was suppressed compared to spherical tin nanoparticles. Substrate Several nanoparticle melting simulations theorize that the supporting substrate affects the extent of melting-point depression of a nanoparticle. These models account for energetic interactions between the substrate materials. A free nanoparticle, as many theoretical models assume, has a different melting temperature (usually lower) than a supported particle due to the absence cohesive energy between the nanoparticle and substrate. However, measurement of the properties of a freestanding nanoparticle remains impossible, so the extent of the interactions cannot be verified through experiment. Ultimately, substrates currently support nanoparticles for all nanoparticle applications, so substrate/nanoparticle interactions are always present and must impact melting point depression. Solubility Within the size–pressure approximation, which considers the stress induced by the surface tension and the curvature of the particle, it was shown that the size of the particle affects the composition and temperature of a eutectic point (Fe-C) the solubility of C in Fe and Fe:Mo nanoclusters. Reduced solubility can affect the catalytic properties of nanoparticles. In fact it has been shown that size-induced instability of Fe-C mixtures represents the thermodynamic limit for the thinnest nanotube that can be grown from Fe nanocatalysts. See also Freezing-point depression Thermoporometry and cryoporometry References Phase transitions