Energy of the surface segregation of Ag atoms in Ag–Au alloys in an aqueous solution

Segregation energy of Ag atoms in Ag(3%) and Ag(10%) silver–gold alloys is more than two times decreased upon the transition from vacuum to aqueous solutions. The DFT calculations using the (111) face of Au as an example have revealed that the effect of OH radical adsorbed together with H₂O molecules on the surface Ag atoms on the segregation energy is comparable to that of a water monolayer. Both experimental and model dependences of the segregation energy and the coverage with Ag on the cluster charge and electrode potential were analyzed.