The interfacial structure of water in contact with TiO2 is the key to understand the mechanism of photocatalytic water dissociation as well as photoinduced superhydrophilicity. We investigate the interfacial molecular structure of water at the surface of anatase TiO2, using phase-sensitive sum frequency generation spectroscopy together with spectra simulation using ab initio molecular dynamic trajectories. We identify two oppositely oriented, weakly and strongly hydrogen-bonded subensembles of O–H groups at the superhydrophilic UV irradiated TiO2 surface. The water molecules with weakly hydrogen-bonded O–H groups are chemisorbed, i.e. form hydroxyl groups, at the TiO2 surface with their hydrogen atoms pointing toward bulk water. The strongly hydrogen-bonded O–H groups interact with the oxygen atom of the chemisorbed water. Their hydrogen atoms point toward the TiO2. This strong interaction between physisorbed and chemisorbed water molecules causes superhydrophilicity.

On the surface of water ice, a quasi-liquid layer (QLL) has been extensively reported at temperatures below its bulk melting point at 273 K. Approaching the bulk melting temperature from below, the thickness of the QLL is known to increase. To elucidate the precise temperature variation of the QLL, and its nature, we investigate the surface melting of hexagonal ice by combining noncontact, surface-specific vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and spectra calculated from molecular dynamics simulations. Using SFG, we probe the outermost water layers of distinct single crystalline ice faces at different temperatures. For the basal face, a stepwise, sudden weakening of the hydrogen-bonded structure of the outermost water layers occurs at 257 K. The spectral calculations from the molecular dynamics simulations reproduce the experimental findings; this allows us to interpret our experimental findings in terms of a stepwise change from one to two molten bilayers at the transition temperature.

Surface-specific vibrational sum-frequency generation spectroscopy (V-SFG) is frequently used to obtain information about the molecular structure at charged interfaces. Here, we provide experimental evidence that not only screening of surface charges but also interference limits the extent to which V-SFG probes interfacial water at sub-mM salt concentrations. As a consequence, V-SFG yields information about the ∼single monolayer interfacial region not only at very high ionic strength, where the surface charge is effectively screened, but also for pure water due to the particularly large screening length at this low ionic strength. At these low ionic strengths, the large screening lengths cause destructive interference between contributions in the surface region. A recently proposed theoretical framework near-quantitatively describes our experimental findings by considering only interference and screening. However, a comparison between NaCl and LiCl reveals ion specific effects in the screening efficiency of different electrolytes. Independent of electrolyte, the hydrogen bonding strength of water right at the interface is enhanced at high electrolyte concentrations.

By combining heterodyne-detected sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation, and a post-vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) approach, we reveal the orientation and surface activity of the amphiphile trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) at the water/air interface. Both measured and simulated C–H stretch SFG spectra show a strong negative and a weak positive peak. We attribute these peaks to the symmetric stretch mode/Fermi resonance and antisymmetric in-plane mode of the methyl group, respectively, based on the post-VSCF calculation. These positive and negative features evidence that the methyl groups of TMAO are oriented preferentially toward the air phase. Furthermore, we explore the effects of TMAO on the interfacial water structure. The O–H stretch SFG spectra manifest that the hydrogen bond network of the aqueous TMAO-solution/air interface is similar to that of the amine-N-oxide (AO) surfactant/water interface. This demonstrates that, irrespective of the alkyl chain length, the AO groups have a similar impact on the hydrogen bond network of the interfacial water. In contrast, we find that adding TMAO to water makes the orientation of the free O−H groups of the interfacial water molecules more parallel to the surface normal. Invariance of the free O–H peak amplitude despite the enhanced orientation of the topmost water layer illustrates that TMAO is embedded in the topmost water layer, manifesting the clear contrast of the hydrophobic methyl group and the hydrophilic AO group of TMAO.

Water in contact with lipids is an important aspect of most biological systems and has been termed “biological water”. We used time-resolved infrared spectroscopy to investigate the vibrational dynamics of lipid-bound water molecules, to shed more light on the properties of these important molecules. We studied water in contact with a positively charged lipid monolayer using surface-specific two-dimensional sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy with subpicosecond time resolution. The dynamics of the O–D stretch vibration was measured for both pure D2O and isotopically diluted D2O under a monolayer of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane. It was found that the lifetime of the stretch vibration depends on the excitation frequency and that efficient energy transfer occurs between the interfacial water molecules. The spectral diffusion and vibrational relaxation of the stretch vibration were successfully explained with a simple model, taking into account the Förster transfer between stretch vibrations and vibrational relaxation via the bend overtone. These observations are very similar to those made for bulk water and as such lead us to conclude that water at a positively charged lipid interface behaves similarly to bulk water. This contrasts the behavior of water in contact with negative or zwitterionic lipids and can be understood by noting that for cationic lipids the charge-induced alignment of water molecules results in interfacial water molecules with O–D groups pointing toward the bulk.

Dendrimeric macromolecules with defined shape and size are promising candidates for delivering drug or DNA molecules into cells. In this work we study the influence of an amphiphilic polyphenylene dendrimer on a model cell membrane consisting of a condensed 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) lipid monolayer. A small surface pressure decrease is observed when the dendrimer solution is injected into the aqueous phase below the monolayer. X-ray reflectivity measurements show that the surface monolayer remains intact. The molecular-scale picture is obtained with sum-frequency generation spectroscopy. With this technique, we observe that the tails of the surfactant molecules become less ordered upon interaction with the amphiphilic polyphenylene dendrimer. In contrast, the water molecules below the DPPC layer become more ordered. Our observations suggest that electrostatic interactions between the negative charge of the dendrimer and the positively charged part of the DPPC headgroup keep the dendrimer located below the headgroup. No evidence of dendrimer insertion into the membrane has been observed. Apparently before entering the cell membrane the dendrimer can stick at the hydrophilic part of the lipids.

Surface-specific vibrational sum-frequency generation spectroscopy (V-SFG) is frequently used to obtain information about the molecular structure at charged interfaces. Here, we provide experimental evidence that not only screening of surface charges but also interference limits the extent to which V-SFG probes interfacial water at sub-mM salt concentrations. As a consequence, V-SFG yields information about the ∼single monolayer interfacial region not only at very high ionic strength, where the surface charge is effectively screened, but also for pure water due to the particularly large screening length at this low ionic strength. At these low ionic strengths, the large screening lengths cause destructive interference between contributions in the surface region. A recently proposed theoretical framework near-quantitatively describes our experimental findings by considering only interference and screening. However, a comparison between NaCl and LiCl reveals ion specific effects in the screening efficiency of different electrolytes. Independent of electrolyte, the hydrogen bonding strength of water right at the interface is enhanced at high electrolyte concentrations.