Vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy was utilized to distinguish different populations of water molecules within the electric double layer (EDL) at the silica/water interface. By systematically varying the electrolyte concentration, surface deprotonation, and SFG polarization combinations, we provide evidence of two regions of water molecules that have distinct pH-dependent behavior when the Stern layer is present (with onset between 10 and 100 mM NaCl). For example, water molecules near the surface in the Stern layer can be probed by the pss polarization combination, while other polarization combinations (ssp and ppp) predominantly probe water molecules further from the surface in the diffuse part of the electrical double layer. For the water molecules adjacent to the surface within the Stern layer, upon increasing the pH from the point-of-zero charge of silica (pH ∼2) to higher values (pH ∼12), we observe an increase in alignment consistent with a more negative surface with increasing pH. In contrast, water molecules further from the surface appear to exhibit a net flip in orientation upon increasing the pH over the same range, which we attribute to the presence of the Stern layer and possible overcharging of the EDL at lower pH. The opposing pH-dependent behavior of water in these two regions sheds new light on our understanding of the water structure within the EDL at high salt concentrations when the Stern layer is present.

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Photoacoustic spectroscopy is a standout technique widely used for absorption measurements of atmospheric aerosols. Here we investigate the relative humidity dependence of photoacoustics and its implication for evaporation kinetics.

Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to study the structure of water molecules adjacent to solid hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. The hydrophobic surfaces resemble self-assembled monolayers with methyl termination, whereas the hydrophilic surfaces are terminated with hydroxyl groups. The resulting water structure is characterized by its density profile, order parameters, and molecular tilt-twist distribution as a function of distance from the surface. In both cases, results are compared to those obtained in bulk water and also to the vapor–water interface. To make a deeper connection to experimental studies, we have applied a frequency-domain approach to calculate the nonlinear vibrational spectra of the O–H stretching response. We have observed that, despite the sharp atomic discontinuity imposed by the surface, water next to a hydrophobic surface is similar in structure and spectral response to what is observed for the more diffuse vapor–water interface. At the hydrophilic surface, water ordering persists for a greater distance from the surface, and therefore the spectral response accumulates over a greater depth. In the strongly hydrogen bonded side of the spectrum, this is seen as an increased nonlinear susceptibility. However, in the energy region of the uncoupled O–H oscillators we demonstrate that the low experimental signal is likely not due to an absence of those species but instead a net cancellation of the microscopic response due to opposing water orientations over a distance well within the experimental coherence length.

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Homo- and heterospectral correlation analysis are powerful methods for investigating the effects of external influences on the spectra acquired using distinct and complementary techniques. Nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy is a selective and sensitive probe of surface structure changes, as bulk molecules are excluded on the basis of symmetry. However, as a result of this exquisite specificity, it is blind to changes that may be occurring in the solution. We demonstrate that correlation analysis between surface-specific techniques and bulk probes such as infrared absorption or Raman scattering may be used to reveal additional details of the adsorption process. Using the adsorption of water and ethanol binary mixtures as an example, we illustrate that this provides support for a competitive binding model and adds new insight into a dimer-to-bilayer transition proposed from previous experiments and simulations.

The mass accommodation coefficient, α M, describes evaporation and condensation kinetics at the liquid–vapor interface. In spite of numerous experimental efforts, reliable values of α M are still not available for many substances. Here, we present a novel experimental technique, photothermal single-particle spectroscopy (PSPS), that allows for a robust retrieval of mass accommodation coefficients from three simultaneous independent measurements. PSPS combines resonant photoacoustic absorption spectroscopy with modulated Mie scattering measurements on single particles. We study the mass transport of water on organic aerosol droplets that are optically trapped using counter-propagating tweezers. We find the mass accommodation coefficient of water on a pure model organic that is fully miscible with water to be 0.021 at 296 K and to decrease by more than an order of magnitude when the temperature increases to 309 K. The experimentally observed temperature dependence of α M shows an Arrhenius behavior. Furthermore, the water content of the droplets is found to have a profound effect on α M. No concentration dependence of α M is observed at low water concentrations, while at elevated water concentrations, we observe a 5-fold increase in α M. The technique presented in this work has the potential to become a reliable method for the retrieval of α M values at liquid–vapor interfaces, which are essential for accurate global climate and pharmaceutical aerosol inhalation modeling, to mention but a few.