From Conventional to Phase-Sensitive Vibrational Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy: Probing Water Organization at Aqueous Interfaces

Salty glycerol versus salty water surface organization: bromide and iodide surface propensities

Salty NaBr and NaI glycerol solution interfaces are examined in the OH stretching region using broadband vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy. Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopy are used to further understand the VSFG spectroscopic signature. The VSFG spectra of salty glycerol solutions reveal that bromide and iodide anions perturb the interfacial glycerol organization in a manner similar as that found in aqueous halide salt solutions, thus confirming the presence of bromide and iodide anions at the glycerol surface. Surface tension measurements are consistent with the surface propensity suggested by the VSFG data and also show that the surface excess increases with increasing salt concentration, similar to that of water. In addition, iodide is shown to have more surface prevalence than bromide, as has also been determined from aqueous solutions. These results suggest that glycerol behaves similarly to water with respect to surface activity and solvation of halide anions at its air/liquid interface.

Long-range Hofmeister effects of anionic and cationic amphiphiles

Specific ion effects at aqueous interfaces play key roles in many important phenomena. We recently reported that ions interact specifically over unexpectedly long distances on the surface of sub-micromolar electrolyte solutions (Enami et al. J. Chem. Phys. 2012, 136, 154707). Whether the anionic and cationic headgroups of the organic amphiphiles present at most water/hydrophobe interfaces act similarly or display new behaviors, however, is not known. Here we report the results of experiments in which we apply online electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to investigate how carboxylate, RCOO(-) (R = CH3, C5H11, C7H15), and alkylammonium, R'(CH3)3N(+) (R' = CH3, C14H29), ions affect the ratio χ = I(-)/Br(-) at the aerial interface of 1 μM (NaI + NaBr) aqueous solutions. We found that χ is systematically but selectively depressed by these ionic amphiphiles and minimally affected by the neutral surfactant 1-octanol. The depressing effects induced by cationic headgroups are stronger than those caused by anionic surfactants and always increase with the length of the alkyl chains.