Segregation in alloys

Ab-initio studies of surface segregation in alloys are based on the Ising-type Hamiltonian, whose parameters are the effective cluster interactions (ECI). The ECIs for alloy surfaces can be determined by various methods, e.g., by the Connolly-Williams inversion scheme , or by the generalized perturbation method (GPM) . The GPM relies on the force theorem , according to which only the band term is mapped onto the Ising Hamiltonian in the bulk case. The case of macroscopically inhomogeneous systems, like disordered surfaces is more complex. The ECIs can be determined on two levels of sophistication ... 

As alluded to before, the adsorption of atoms and molecules may also induce segregation in alloys. Upon revisiting the thermodynamic behavior of the improved Cu-Ag alloy catalysts for ethylene epoxidation synthesized by Linic et al, (section 2.1) Piccinin et al. calculated that, while in the absence of oxygen Cu prefers to stay in the subsurface layers, oxygen adsorption causes it to segregate to the surface which then phase-separates into clean Ag(lll) and various Cu surface oxides under typical industrial conditions (Fig. 7). This casts doubt on the active state of the previous Cu-Ag catalysts being a well-mixed surface Ag-Cu alloy. 

It is obvious that the surface segregation in alloys is suppressed by increasing the dispersion D of alloys Small particles might not have enough Group IB metals to achieve a pronounced segregation and, moreover, the... 

Simple criteria for surface segregation in alloys (relative melting points, enthalpies of sublimation, metal atom radii, surface free energies of the pure metals) all indicate that surface segregation of titanium should occur on Pt/Ti alloys in vacuo. However, this is inadequate because of the large departures from ideality in Pt/Ti alloys. Analysis (11) of a broken bond model of the system, especially with the use of data directly determined with Pt/Ti alloys, gives a more reliable result. 

Most theories of surface segregation in alloys deal with one or more of the following points ... 

Rate theory modeling of irradiation-induced segregation in alloys... 

AJ. Ardell, Radiation-Induced Solute Segregation in Alloys. Materials Issues for Generation IV Systems, Springer, 2008, p. 285. 

As we have seen, surface segregation in alloys is a fascinating and diverse effect It is not restricted to the surfaces of random alloys (solid solutions) and also occurs in... 

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