Atomic-Scale Surface Segregation in Copper-Gold Nanoparticles
Résumé
We combine electron microscopy measurements of the surface compositions in Cu-Au nanoparticles and
atomistic simulations to investigate the effect of gold segregation. While this mechanism has been
extensively investigated within Cu-Au in the bulk state, it was never studied at the atomic level in
nanoparticles. By using energy dispersive x-ray analysis across the (100) and (111) facets of nanoparticles,
we provide evidence of gold segregation in Cu3Au and CuAu3 nanoparticles in the 10 nm size range grown
by epitaxy on a salt surface with high control of the nanoparticles morphology. To get atomic-scale insights
into the segregation properties in Cu-Au nanoparticles on the whole composition range, we perform
Monte Carlo calculations employing N-body interatomic potentials highlighting a complete segregation of
Au in the (100) and (111) facets for gold nominal composition above 70% and 60%, respectively.
Furthermore, we show that there is no size effect on the segregation behavior since we evidence the same
oscillating concentration profile from the surface to the nanoparticle’s core as in the bulk. These results
shed new light on the interpretation of the enhanced reactivity, selectivity, and stability of Cu-Au
nanoparticles in various catalytic reactions.
Domaines
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