Open AccessThe water‐like film on water
Author(s) -
Greef R.,
Frey J. G.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
physica status solidi c
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1610-1642
pISSN - 1862-6351
DOI - 10.1002/pssc.200777820
Subject(s) - refractive index , hydronium , tapering , brewster , optics , surface (topology) , ion , wavelength , brewster's angle , index (typography) , liquid water , materials science , chemistry , molecular physics , physics , thermodynamics , geometry , mathematics , computer graphics (images) , organic chemistry , world wide web , computer science
We have used wavelength scanning close to the Brewster angle of water to determine the relative index of refraction between the surface film and the bulk liquid. The result is clearly that contrary to expectation, the surface film has a higher index than the bulk. This runs counter to molecular dynamics calculations which propose a tapering off of density, and by implication of refractive index. The finding may be more in line with recent suggestions that clusters of hydronium ions may dominate the structure close to the surface. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)