Anisotropic Water Structure at Charged Interfaces Studied by Depth Resolved Vibrational SFG/DFG Spectroscopy

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Diaz-Duque, Álvaro, Balos, Vasileios, Wolf, Martin, Fellows, Alexander P., Thämer, Martin
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Diaz-Duque, Álvaro
Balos, Vasileios
Wolf, Martin
Fellows, Alexander P.
Thämer, Martin
author_facet Diaz-Duque, Álvaro
Balos, Vasileios
Wolf, Martin
Fellows, Alexander P.
Thämer, Martin
contents The molecular water structure at charged aqueous interfaces is shaped by interfacial electric fields, which can induce significant anisotropy in the molecular orientations extending over nanometer-scale distances. Despite great relevance, very little is known about the details of this depth-dependent anisotropic water structure, mainly due to the lack of appropriate experimental techniques. Here, we present a depth-resolved study of the water anisotropy at the interface to insoluble charged surfactants using a newly developed technique which allows for directly correlating nonlinear vibrational spectra with depth information on the nanometer scale. We demonstrate that the obtained data allows for a full reconstruction of the nonlinear vibrational responses as function of depth. The results for the case of low salinity solutions show the presence of two pronounced regions within the interfacial anisotropy with largely deviating degrees of preferential molecular orientations. A spectral analysis of the depth-dependent vibrational responses furthermore reveals that the natural local hydrogen-bond structure of bulk water remains largely unperturbed throughout the interfacial region, including water in direct proximity of the surface charges. These findings significantly refine our understanding of the anisotropic water structure at the interface to hydrophilic charged surfactants and showcase the large potential of our depth-resolved spectroscopic technique.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_06912
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Anisotropic Water Structure at Charged Interfaces Studied by Depth Resolved Vibrational SFG/DFG Spectroscopy
Diaz-Duque, Álvaro
Balos, Vasileios
Wolf, Martin
Fellows, Alexander P.
Thämer, Martin
Chemical Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
The molecular water structure at charged aqueous interfaces is shaped by interfacial electric fields, which can induce significant anisotropy in the molecular orientations extending over nanometer-scale distances. Despite great relevance, very little is known about the details of this depth-dependent anisotropic water structure, mainly due to the lack of appropriate experimental techniques. Here, we present a depth-resolved study of the water anisotropy at the interface to insoluble charged surfactants using a newly developed technique which allows for directly correlating nonlinear vibrational spectra with depth information on the nanometer scale. We demonstrate that the obtained data allows for a full reconstruction of the nonlinear vibrational responses as function of depth. The results for the case of low salinity solutions show the presence of two pronounced regions within the interfacial anisotropy with largely deviating degrees of preferential molecular orientations. A spectral analysis of the depth-dependent vibrational responses furthermore reveals that the natural local hydrogen-bond structure of bulk water remains largely unperturbed throughout the interfacial region, including water in direct proximity of the surface charges. These findings significantly refine our understanding of the anisotropic water structure at the interface to hydrophilic charged surfactants and showcase the large potential of our depth-resolved spectroscopic technique.
title Anisotropic Water Structure at Charged Interfaces Studied by Depth Resolved Vibrational SFG/DFG Spectroscopy
topic Chemical Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.06912