The adsorption, desorption, and clustering behavior of H2O on Pt111 has been investigated by specular He scattering. The data show that water adsorbed on a clean Pt111 surface undergoes a structural transition from a random distribution to clustered islands near 60 K. The initial helium scattering cross sections as a function of temperature are found to be insensitive to the incident H2O flux over a range of 0.005 monolayers (ML)/s-0.55 ML/s indicating that the clustering process is more complex than simple surface diffusion. The coarsening process of an initially random distribution of water deposited at 25 K is found to occur over a broad temperature range, 60

Total internal reflection second harmonic generation (TIR SHG) has been used to study a series of neat n-alkanelwater interfaces. The incident angle and polarization dependence of the SH response from these oil/water interfaces has been examined in detail and correlates well with theoretical predictions. Surface nonlinear susceptibility measurements suggest a significant degree of molecular ordering at these interfaces for all alkane/water systems studied. Of particular note is the higher degree of order observed for the alkane/ water systems consisting of even numbered hydrocarbon chains relative to the odd numbered hydrocarbons. The results demonstrate for the first time the utility of using TIR SHG to measure properties of the liquid/ liquid interface in the absence of any optical resonances and expand the range of systems which can be examined by SHG.

The adsorption of water on FeO(111) is investigated using temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS). Well-ordered 2 ML thick FeO(111) films are grown epitaxially on a Pt(111) substrate. Water adsorbs molecularly on FeO(111) and desorbs with a well resolved monolayer peak. IRAS measurements as a function of coverage are performed for water deposited at 30 and 135 K. For all coverages (0.2 ML and greater), the adsorbed water exhibits significant hydrogen bonding. Differences in IRAS spectra for water adsorbed at 30 and 135 K are subtle but suggest that water adsorbed at 135 K is well ordered. Monolayer nitrogen TPD spectra from water covered FeO(111) surfaces are used to investigate the clustering of the water as a function of deposition or annealing temperature. Temperature dependent water overlayer structures result from differences in water diffusion rates on bare FeO(111) and on water adsorbed on FeO(111). Features in the nitrogen TPD spectra allow the monolayer wetting and 2-dimensional (2D) ordering of water on FeO(111) to be followed. Voids in a partially disordered first water layer exist for water deposited below 120 K and ordered 2D islands are found when depositing water above 120 K.

Molecular beams were used to grow amorphous and crystalline H(2)O films and to dose HCl upon their surface. The adsorption state of HCl on the ice films was probed with infrared spectroscopy. A Zundel continuum is clearly observed for exposures up to the saturation HCl coverage on ice upon which features centered near 2530, 2120, 1760, and 1220 cm(-1) are superimposed. The band centered near 2530 cm(-1) is observed only when the HCl adlayer is in direct contact with amorphous solid water or crystalline ice films at temperatures as low as 20 K. The spectral signature of solid HCl (amorphous or crystalline) was identified only after saturation of the adsorption sites in the first layer or when HCl was deposited onto a rare gas spacer layer between the HCl and ice film. These observations strongly support conclusions from recent electron spectroscopy work that reported ionic dissociation of the first layer HCl adsorbed onto the ice surface is spontaneous.