Historically, different pH dependent behaviour at the mineral oxide/aqueous electrolyte interface has been observed by non-resonant second harmonic generation (SHG) and resonant sum frequency generation (SFG), despite a general understanding that both techniques are dominated by the response of water. Here we compare the two at the silica/aqueous interface at high salt concentration and as a function of pH to shed light on the origins of both measurements. From this comparison and SHG measurements at the silica/air interface, we conclude that SHG originates from the net order of water and the silica substrate, with the latter dominating the observed intensities below pH 6.5. In contrast, SFG is dominated by the higher SF activity, yet lower number density, of waters that contribute in the low wavenumber range, according to molecular dynamic simulations. Furthermore, spectral resolution in SFG of oppositely oriented water populations prevents cancellation of signal making it more difficult to relate SF intensity to the net order of water.
We explore the influence of salt addition on the structure of water interacting closely with a charged silica surface. Isolating these surface effects is challenging, even with surface-specific techniques like sum frequency generation (SFG), because of the presence of aligned water nanometers to microns away from the charged silica. Here we combine zeta potential and SFG intensity measurements with the maximum entropy method and reported heterodyne second harmonic and sum frequency generation results to deconvolute from the total signal intensity the SFG spectral contributions of the waters adjacent to the surface. Deconvolution reveals that at very low ionic strength the surface water structure is similar to that of a neutral silica surface near the point of zero charge with waters oriented in opposite directions. This result suggests the known metastability of silica near the PZC and the stability of silica in low ionic strength solutions may originate from the same source, these oppositely oriented surface-bound waters. Orientation changes are induced upon adding salt, which lead to a decrease in the total amount of aligned water at the surface. File list (2) download file view on ChemRxiv Rehl Manuscript.pdf (1.99 MiB) download file view on ChemRxiv Rehl Supporting Information.pdf (2.26 MiB)
Why oil and water do not mix
It is well known that oil forms stable droplets that carry a negative electrophoretic mobility (and negative charge) upon dispersing in water. However, the underlying mechanism is a long-debated topic. Using vibrational sum-frequency scattering spectroscopy, Pullanchery
et al
. recorded the interfacial vibrational spectrum in the oxygen–deuterium and carbon–hydrogen stretching regions of a hexadecane–water interface. Their spectral analysis accompanied by molecular dynamics simulations showed that water molecules form “improper” interfacial hydrogen bonds with alkyl hydrogens, resulting in the water-to-oil charge transfer that stabilizes oil droplets. This work demonstrates that sum-frequency scattering spectroscopy is a powerful technique that can improve our understanding of hydrophobicity in water-mediated chemical and biological systems. —YS
We explore the influence of salt addition on the structure of water interacting closely with a charged silica surface. Isolating these surface effects is challenging, even with surface-specific techniques like sum frequency generation (SFG), because of the presence of aligned water nanometers to microns away from the charged silica. Here we combine zeta potential and SFG intensity measurements with the maximum entropy method and reported heterodyne second harmonic and sum frequency generation results to deconvolute from the total signal intensity the SFG spectral contributions of the waters adjacent to the surface. Deconvolution reveals that at very low ionic strength the surface water structure is similar to that of a neutral silica surface near the point of zero charge with waters oriented in opposite directions. This result suggests the known metastability of silica near the PZC and the stability of silica in low ionic strength solutions may originate from the same source, these oppositely oriented surface-bound waters. Orientation changes are induced upon adding salt, which lead to a decrease in the total amount of aligned water at the surface.
The molecular origin of overcharging at mineral oxide surfaces remains a cause of contention within the geochemistry, physics, and colloidal chemistry communities owing to competing "chemical" vs "physical" interpretations. Here, we combine vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy and streaming potential measurements to obtain molecular and macroscopic insights into the pH-dependent interactions of calcium ions with a fused silica surface. In 100 mM CaCl 2 electrolyte, we observe evidence of charge neutralization at pH~10.5, as deducted from a minimum in the interfacial water signal. Concurrently, adsorption of calcium hydroxide cations is inferred from the appearance of a spectral feature at ~3610 cm -1 . However, the interfacial water signal increases at higher pH, while adsorbed calcium hydroxide appears to remain constant, indicating that overcharging results from hydrated Ca 2+ ions present within the Stern layer. These findings suggest that both specific adsorption of hydrolyzed ions and ion-ion correlations of hydrated ions govern silica overcharging with increasing pH. File list (2) download file view on ChemRxiv Rashwan_Manuscript.pdf (1.77 MiB) download file view on ChemRxiv Rashwan_SupportingInformation.pdf (1.07 MiB)
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