Nonfouling surfaces capable of reducing protein adsorption are highly desirable in a wide range of applications. Coating of surfaces with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), a water-soluble, nontoxic, and nonimmunogenic polymer, is most frequently used to reduce nonspecific protein adsorption. Here we show how to prepare dense PEO brushes on virtually any substrate by tethering PEO to polydopamine (PDA)-modified surfaces. The chain lengths of heterobifunctional PEOs were varied in the range of 45−500 oxyethylene units (M n = 2000−20 000). End-tethering of PEO chains was performed through amine and thiol headgroups from reactive polymer melts to minimize excluded volume effects. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was applied to investigate the adsorption of model protein solutions and complex biologic medium (human blood plasma) to the densely packed PEO brushes. The level of protein adsorption of human serum albumin and fibrinogen solutions was below the detection limit of the SPR measurements for all PEO chains end-tethered to PDA, thus exceeding the protein resistance of PEO layers tethered directly on gold. It was found that the surface resistance to adsorption of lysozyme and human blood plasma increased with increasing length and brush character of the PEO chains end-tethered to PDA with a similar or better resistance in comparison to PEO layers on gold. Furthermore, the chain density, thickness, swelling, and conformation of PEO layers were determined using spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), dynamic water contact angle (DCA) measurements, infrared reflection− absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS), and vibrational sum-frequency-generation (VSFG) spectroscopy, the latter in air and water.

The influence of monovalent cations on the interfacial water organization of alkali (LiCl, NaCl, and KCl) and ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) salt solutions was investigated using surface-sensitive conventional vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) and heterodyne-detected (HD-)VSFG spectroscopy. It was found in the conventional VSFG spectra that LiCl and NH4Cl significantly perturb water’s hydrogen-bonding network. In contrast, NaCl and KCl had little effect on the interfacial water structure and exhibited weak concentration dependency. The Im χs(2)(ωIR) spectra from HD-VSFG further revealed that, for all chloride solutions, the net transition dipole moments of hydrogen-bonded water molecules (O → H) are oriented more toward the vapor phase relative to neat water. This suggests the presence of an interfacial electric field generated from the formation of an ionic double layer in the interfacial region with a distribution of Cl(-) ions located above the countercations, in agreement with predictions from MD simulations. The magnitude of this electric field shows a small but definite cation specificity and follows the order Li(+) ≈ Na(+) > NH4(+) > K(+). The observed trend was found to be in good agreement with previously published surface potential data.

Sulfuric acid (H2SO4), bisulfate (HSO4(-)), and sulfate (SO4(2-)) are among the most abundant species in tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols due to high levels of atmospheric SO2 emitted from biomass burning and volcanic eruptions. The air/aqueous interfaces of sulfuric acid and bisulfate solutions play key roles in heterogeneous reactions, acid rain, radiative balance, and polar stratospheric cloud nucleation. Molecular-level knowledge about the interfacial distribution of these inorganic species and their perturbation of water organization facilitates a better understanding of the reactivity and growth of atmospheric aerosols and of the aerosol surface charge, thus shedding light on topics of air pollution, climate change, and thundercloud electrification. Here, the air/aqueous interface of NaHSO4, NH4HSO4, and Mg(HSO4)2 salt solutions as well as H2SO4 and HCl acid solutions are investigated by means of vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) and heterodyne-detected (HD) VSFG spectroscopy. VSFG spectra of all acid solutions show higher SFG response in the OH-bonded region relative to neat water, with 1.1 M H2SO4 being more enhanced than 1.1 M HCl. In addition, VSFG spectra of bisulfate salt solutions highly resemble that of the dilute H2SO4 solution (0.26 M) at a comparable pH. HD-VSFG (Im χ((2))) spectra of acid and bisulfate salt solutions further reveal that hydrogen-bonded water molecules are oriented preferentially toward the bulk liquid phase. General agreement between Im χ((2)) spectra of 1.1 M H2SO4 and 1.1 M HCl acid solutions indicate that HSO4(-) ions have a similar surface preference as that of chloride (Cl(-)) ions. By comparing the direction and magnitude of the electric fields arising from the interfacial ion distributions and the concentration of each species, the most reasonable relative surface preference that can be deduced from a simplified model follows the order H3O(+) > HSO4(-) > Na(+), NH4(+), Mg(2+) > SO4(2-). Interestingly, contrary to some other near-neutral salt solution interfaces (e.g., chlorides and nitrates), cation-specific effects are here overshadowed by hydronium ions.

The presence and exchange of electrical charges on the surfaces of marine aerosols influence their ability to act as cloud condensation nuclei and play a role in thundercloud electrification. Although interactions exist between surface-active inorganic ions and organic compounds, their role in surface charging of marine aerosols is not well understood. In this study, the surface potential of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) monolayers, a zwitterionic phospholipid found in the sea surface microlayer, is measured on concentrated (0.3-2.0 M) chloride salt solutions containing marine-relevant cations (Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+), Ca(2+)) to model and elucidate the electrical properties of organic-covered marine aerosols. Monovalent cations show only a weak effect on the surface potential of DPPC monolayers in the condensed phase compared to water. In contrast, Mg(2+) and Ca(2+) increase the surface potential, indicating different cation binding modes and affinities for the PC headgroup. Moreover, it is found that for divalent chloride salt solutions, the PC headgroup and interfacial water molecules make the largest dipolar contribution to the surface potential. This study shows that for equal charge concentrations, divalent cations impact surface potential of DPPC monolayers more strongly than monovalents likely through changes in the PC headgroup orientation induced by their complexation along with the lesser ordering of interfacial water molecules caused by phosphate group charge screening.

Elucidation of water organization at aqueous interfaces has remained a challenging problem. Conventional vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy and its most recent extension, phase-sensitive VSFG (PS-VSFG), have emerged as powerful experimental methods for unraveling structural information at various aqueous interfaces. In this Perspective, we briefly describe the two possible VSFG detection modes, and we point out features that make these methods highly suited to address questions about water organization at air/aqueous interfaces. Several important aqueous interfacial systems are discussed to illustrate the versatility of these methods. Remaining challenges and exciting prospective directions are also presented.