We analyze the possibility of strain-induced segregation in bimetallic multiply twinned particles by an analytic first-order expansion within a continuum model. The results indicate that while the change in free energy may be small, there will be a noticeable segregation of larger atoms to the external surface and smaller ones to the core, which could have interesting effects when such nanoparticles are used as heterogeneous catalysts.
Keywords: alloy nanoparticles; multiply twinned particles; segregation; strain field; thermodynamic modeling.