Surface atomic distribution and water adsorption on Pt–Co alloys

Density functional theory is used to study surface atomic distributions on slabs of PtCo and Pt3Co overall compositions, as well as water molecule adsorption on PtCo(1 1 1) and Pt-skin structures. Pt-rich surfaces are energetically favored under vacuum in the PtCo and Pt3Co alloys. The adsorption trend on the studied structures agrees with the d-band model, with stronger adsorption at higher surface Co composition. The most stable adsorption site for a water molecule on PtCo surfaces is on top of Co atoms, with the dipole vector parallel to the surface. This water/surface interaction is as strong as that of water molecule on Pt(1 1 1), whereas bonding to Pt-skin monolayers is found much weaker than that on Pt(1 1 1). It is found that water interacts mainly through its 1b1 and 3a1 orbitals with d orbitals of the Pt(1 1 1), PtCo(1 1 1) and Pt-skin surface atoms. Compared to the sum of the electron densities of the separated systems, the electron density of the water/surface gets depleted along O–Pt on Pt-skin surfaces while it becomes richer in the O–Co bonding region of PtCo.