Strong Electric Field Observed at the Interface of Aqueous Microdroplets

Chemical reactions in aqueous microdroplets often exhibit unusual kinetic and thermodynamic properties not observed in bulk solution. While an electric field has been implicated at the water interface, there has been no direct measurement in aqueous microdroplets, largely due to the lack of proper measurement tools. Herein, we employ newly developed stimulated Raman excited fluorescence microscopy to measure the electric field at the water-oil interface of microdroplets. As determined by the vibrational Stark effect of a nitrile-bearing fluorescent probe, the strength of the electric field is found to be on the order of 10⁷ V/cm. This strong electric field aligns probe dipoles with respect to the interface. The formation of the electric field likely arises from charge separation caused by the adsorption of negative ions at the water-oil interface of microdroplets. We suggest that this strong electric field might account in part for the unique properties of chemical reactions reported in microdroplets.