Surface energy of liquid alloys – Thermodynamic models
Surface tension of liquid metals and capillarity

The surface energy of a metal A can be modified by a metallic solute B if this solute adsorbs onto the surface of A. If the surface is represented by an atomic monolayer, adsorption is quantified by the enrichment coefficientY_B/X_B, equal to the ratio between the molar fractions of B in the monolayer (Y_B) and inside the liquid (X_B) (with Y_A+Y_B = X_A+X_B = 1). This coefficient, along with the surface energy of the binary alloy AB, can be calculated using the regular solution model describing atomic interactions in the liquid using a single energy parameter, the exchange energyλ, which takes into account the variation in system energy when hetero-atomic pairs A-B are formed from homo-atomic pairs A-A and B-B :