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Updated: Dec 12, 2025

Probing the Structure and Dynamics of Interfacial Water with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy
Published on: May 27, 2018
Potential-Induced Adsorption and Structuring of Water at the Pt(111) Electrode Surface in Contact with an Ionic
Andre Kemna1, Björn Braunschweig1
1Institute of Physical Chemistry, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 28/30, 48149 Münster, Germany.
Abstract:
Water adsorption is important in many fields from surface electrochemistry to electrocatalysis, where molecular-level information is much needed in order to gain a detailed understanding of the role of interfacial water. Here we report on water at Pt(111) surfaces in contact with an [EIMIM][BF4] ionic liquid, which was spectroscopically resolved by using in situ sum-frequency generation (SFG). O-H modes are used to study water adsorption and water structure as a function of electrode potential, while the analysis of C-H modes is used to infer orientational changes of [EMIM] cations at the interface. Different from the bulk where free water molecules are found, SFG spectra provide evidence that an interfacial layer with an extended network of hydrogen-bonded water molecules exists and grows with increasing absolute potential which is used to identify the potential of zero charge at +0.1 V SHE, where a pronounced minimum in O-H intensity is found.
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