A jellium study of two-component metal clusters

The spherical jellium model is applied in studying the electronic propertie s of colloids/clusters consisting of two types of metal. Although the jelli um model is far from exact, it can give insight into the overall properties of these systems that otherwise are too complex for most other electronic structure studies. Special emphasis is put on the stability as a function o f system size for which it is found that both metals contribute to the regu larity with which particularly stable systems occur, and on the Fermi energ y as a function of system size. The latter is of relevance in the catalytic activity of such systems, that has been studied experimentally, and is fou nd to display an oscillatory behaviour that correlates with that of the rel ative total energy but also to be overall lower than that of the pure syste ms consisting of only one type of atoms.