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Molecular Ordering at the Interface Between Liquid Water and Rutile TiO 2 (110)
Author(s) -
Serrano Giulia,
Bonanni Beatrice,
Di Giovannantonio Marco,
Kosmala Tomasz,
Schmid Michael,
Diebold Ulrike,
Di Carlo Aldo,
Cheng Jun,
VandeVondele Joost,
Wandelt Klaus,
Goletti Claudio
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
advanced materials interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.671
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 2196-7350
DOI - 10.1002/admi.201500246
Subject(s) - scanning tunneling microscope , materials science , rutile , monolayer , chemical physics , aqueous solution , adsorption , nanoscopic scale , molecular dynamics , molecule , nanotechnology , microscopy , layer (electronics) , crystallography , chemical engineering , chemistry , optics , computational chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering , physics
The pivotal importance of TiO 2 as a technological material involves most applications in an aqueous environment, but the single‐crystal TiO 2 /bulk‐water interfaces are almost completely unexplored, since up to date solid/liquid interfaces are more difficult to access than surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). Only a few techniques (as scanning probe microscopy) offer the opportunity to explore these systems under realistic conditions. The rutile TiO 2 (110) surface immersed in high‐purity water is studied by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy. The large‐scale surface morphology as obtained after preparation under UHV conditions remains unchanged upon prolonged exposure to bulk water. Moreover, in contrast to UHV, atomically resolved images show a twofold periodicity along the [001] direction, indicative of an ordered structure resulting from the hydration layer. This is consistent with density‐functional theory based molecular dynamics simulations where neighboring interfacial molecules of the first water layer in contact with the bulk liquid form dimers. By contrast, this dimerization is not observed for a single adsorbed water monolayer, i.e., in the absence of bulk water.

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