Vibrational spectroscopy of emersed interfaces: Toward a molecular description of surface wetting

COLL 377

Jeanne E. Pemberton1, Anoma Mudalige1, Domenic J. Tiani1, Shinobu Tsuruta1, and Kevin E. Johnson2. (1) Department of Chemistry, University of Arizona, 1306 E. University Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85721, (2) Chemistry Department, Pacific Universiy, 2043 College Way, Forest Grove, OR 97116-1797
The controlled removal of an established solid-liquid interface is a process known as emersion. This process results in the retention of thin layers of solution of nm thickness on which surface vibrational spectroscopy can be performed to elucidate molecular details of interfacial structure. This method has been successfully implemented using surface Raman and infrared spectroscopies in this laboratory such that, when coupled with ellipsometry for quantitative determination of emersed layer thickness, new information about the molecular details of surface wetting has been revealed. Details of the implementation of emersion Raman spectroscopy and emersion infrared reflectance-absorbance spectroscopy (IRRAS) will be presented and the result of studies on bare metal surfaces, self-assembled monolayer modified-metal models of organic surfaces, and models of surfaces relevant in electrowetting will be presented.