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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Probing the Structure and Dynamics of Interfacial Water with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy
Published on: May 27, 2018
Strong intermolecular coupling between the HF stretching and H2O bending vibrations in HF:H2O binary amorphous
Guillaume Marcotte1, Patrick Ayotte
1Département de chimie, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 boulevard université, Sherbrooke, Québec J1K 2R1, Canada. Guillaume.Marcotte@USherbrooke.ca
Abstract:
The coupling mechanism between the HF stretching and H(2)O bending vibrations observed in the infrared spectra of HF:H(2)O binary amorphous solids is analyzed using a simple cluster model. The intermolecular vibrational coupling derived from electrostatic potentials is one order of magnitude smaller, and of the opposite sign, than that obtained from electronic structure-based potentials. This highlights the distinctively covalent character of strong H-bonds and unveils fundamental weaknesses of electrostatic descriptions of vibrational energy transfer in liquid water and aqueous solutions.
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