Surface segregation of bimetallic alloys in nanoscale confinement

M Hu and KP Giapis and JV Goicochea and D Poulikakos, APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, 97, 153107 (2010).

DOI: 10.1063/1.3500825

The surface segregation of Pt atoms in liquid bimetallic alloys confined in carbon nanotube cavities was studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Considerable enrichment in the Pt-atom surface density was found to occur in Pt alloys, when the complementary metal has surface energy higher than Pt and simultaneously metal-wall interaction strength lower than that of Pt with the confining wall. The results suggest that solidification of liquid binary alloys in nanochannels could produce core-shell nanorods with the shell enriched in one of the components for catalytic and other applications. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. doi: 10.1063/1.3500825

Return to Publications page