Interference effects in the sum frequency generation spectra of thin organic films. II: Applications to different thin-film systems

Phase of the second-order susceptibility in vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy: Origins, utility, and measurement techniques

Vibrational sum frequency generation can provide valuable structural information at surfaces and buried interfaces. Relating the measured spectra to the complex-valued second-order susceptibility χ(2) is at the heart of the technique and a requisite step in nearly all subsequent analyses. The magnitude and phase of χ(2) as a function of frequency reveal important information about molecules and materials in regions where centrosymmetry is broken. In this tutorial-style perspective, the origins of the χ(2) phase are first described, followed by the utility of phase determination. Finally, some practical methods of phase extraction are discussed.

Spectroscopically Detecting Molecular-Level Bonding Formation between an Epoxy Formula and Steel

The formation of the interfacial adhesion between an epoxy adhesive and a substrate was normally accompanied by the epoxy curing process on the substrate. Although the debate on the formation mechanism of the interfacial adhesion is still ongoing, this issue can causally be resolved by studying the interfacial structural formation between the epoxy adhesive and the substrate. Herein, to reveal the interfacial structural formation of a representative formula composed of epoxy (digylcidyl ether of biphenyl A, DGEBA) and amine hardener (2,2'-(ethylenedioxy) diethylamine, EDDA) with the steel substrate upon curing and postcuring treatments, sum-frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy with a sandwiched transparent window/epoxy adhesive/steel setup was applied to detect and track the buried molecular-level structures at the epoxy adhesive/steel interface. An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) experiment was performed to probe the intentionally exposed interface to disclose the occurring interfacial chemical reaction. The reaction between the epoxy groups and the steel-surface OH groups and the molecular reconstruction of interfacial epoxy methyl groups upon curing and postcuring steps were confirmed. The latter also indirectly indicated the formation of the additional hydrogen bonding and the former bonding reaction at the interface. The above two spectroscopic experimental results matched up with the further examination of the adhesion strength. Therefore, this work elucidates the formation of the interfacial bonding between the epoxy formula and the steel substrate upon curing and postcuring treatments at the molecular level, thus providing an in-depth insight into the origin of the interfacial adhesion.

Electrolyte-Layer-Tunable ATR-SEIRAS for Simultaneous Detection of Adsorbed and Dissolved Species in Electrochemistry

A balanced detection of both adsorbates and dissolved species is very important for the clarification of the electrochemical reaction mechanism yet remains a major challenge for different modes of electrochemical infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Among others, conventional attenuated total reflection-surface-enhanced IR absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) is far less sensitive to low-concentration solution species than to surface species. We report herein an electrochemical wide-frequency ATR-SEIRAS with a novel thin-layer flow cell design, fulfilling the simultaneous detection of the variations of surface and solution species. This setup consists of a silicon wafer (with one side micromachined and the other side metallized), a thin-layer electrolyte structure with tunable thickness and flow rate, and a tilt-correction system based on laser collimation, enabling a well-controlled mass transport within the electrolyte layer and the spectral differentiation of solution species from adsorbates. Using acidic methanol oxidation on a Pt film electrode as a model system, besides SEIRA bands for adsorbed CO and formate intermediates, IR spectral signals for dissolved products CO₂, formic acid, and methyl formate can be readily identified for a quiescent electrolyte layer of ∼20 μm, which are otherwise undetected with conventional ATR-SEIRAS, as indicated by the trend of spectral features with increasing thickness or flow rate.

Molecular-Level Correlation between Spectral Evidence and Interfacial Bonding Formation for Epoxy Adhesives on Solid Substrates

Interfacial bonding strength of an epoxy-based adhesive depends on the interfacial interaction between the adhesive and the substrate. Normally, the curing process at the interface accompanied by the interfacial bonding formation is different from that in the bulk, and it is still a big challenge to probe the interfacial bonding formation at a molecular level. In this study, to trace the interfacial structural evolution of a representative formula of epoxy (digylcidyl ether of biphenyl A, DGEBA) and amine hardener [1,2-bis(2-aminoethoxy)ethane, EDDA] with the sapphire and silica substrates upon curing and post-curing steps, sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy is employed to detect the molecular-level interfacial structural information. For the sapphire substrate, upon curing, backbone methylene (CH₂) stretching signals decrease, indicating the formation of a rigid chain network structure and thus losing the local methylene order, while vibrational signals of the sapphire surface hydroxyl (OH) groups (including hydrogen-bonded and unbonded) increase significantly, indicating the formation of a strong hydrogen-bonding and polar interaction between the epoxy adhesive and the sapphire surface. Upon post-curing, increased backbone CH₂ signals and decreased sapphire OH signals suggest interfacial chemical bonding formation due to the reaction between the epoxy rings and the sapphire surface OH groups. Orientation analysis confirms the enhanced ordering of the sapphire surface OH groups upon curing and post-curing, in comparison to the uncured epoxy formula. As for the fused silica, weak vibrational signals of the methylene (CH₂) and methyl (CH₃) groups are observed before curing, while both of them increase slightly for the cured and post-cured epoxy formulae, suggesting relatively less hydrophilic nature of the silica surface compared to that of the sapphire surface, also evidenced by the very weak OH signals upon curing and post-curing. Further measurement on the adhesion strength matches up with the above spectroscopic experimental results, substantiating the correlation between the macroscopic bonding strength of the epoxy adhesive and the microscopic molecular-level structure.

Probing the electrode-solution interfaces in rechargeable batteries by sum-frequency generation spectroscopy

An in-depth understanding of the electrode-electrolyte interaction and electrochemical reactions at the electrode-solution interfaces in rechargeable batteries is essential to develop novel electrolytes and electrode materials with high performance. In this perspective, we highlight the advantages of the interface-specific sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy on the studies of the electrode-solution interface for the Li-ion and Li-O₂ batteries. The SFG studies in probing solvent adsorption structures and solid-electrolyte interphase formation for the Li-ion battery are briefly reviewed. Recent progress on the SFG study of the oxygen reaction mechanisms and stability of the electrolyte in the Li-O₂ battery is also discussed. Finally, we present the current perspective and future directions in the SFG studies on the electrode-electrolyte interfaces toward providing deeper insight into the mechanisms of discharging/charging and parasitic reactions in novel rechargeable battery systems.

Vibrational Sum Frequency Generation Study of the Interference Effect on a Thin Film of 4,4'-Bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1'-biphenyl (CBP) and Its Interfacial Orientation

Molecular organization of vapor-deposited organic molecules in the active layer of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has been a matter of great interest as it directly influences various optoelectronic properties and the overall performance of the devices. Contrary to the general assumption of isotropic molecular orientation in vacuum-deposited thin-film OLEDs, it is possible to achieve an anisotropic molecular distribution at or near the surface under controlled experimental conditions. In this study, we have used interface-specific vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy to determine the orientation of a low-molecular weight OLED material, 4,4'-bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1'-biphenyl (CBP), at free (air) and buried (CaF₂) interfaces. VSFG spectra were measured at four different polarization combinations for five different thicknesses of the CBP film. The spectral shift and VSFG intensity changes with the film thickness can be accurately modeled by considering the optical interference effect of the signals coming from the CBP/air and CBP/CaF₂ interfaces. A global fitting of the experimental spectra for all thicknesses along with theoretical simulations reveal that the long molecular axis of CBP is oriented at an angle of ∼58° (47-70°) from the surface normal at the air/CBP interface, whereas at the CBP/CaF₂ interface, the angle is ∼48° (43-52°). Such a change in the angle (∼10°) suggests that the CBP molecule tends to orient more vertically (edge-on) at the buried CaF₂ interface, which may be attributed to the intermolecular π-π stacking interaction between adjacent CBP molecules.

Interfacial Irreversibly and Loosely Adsorbed Layers Abide by Different Evolution Dynamics

Within the interfacial region of the substrate, polymer chains can form the inner irreversibly adsorbed and outer loosely adsorbed layers upon annealing. Owing to their different constrained environments, the evolution dynamics of the two layers are supposedly different. To trace such evolution dynamics, we thus resorted to sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy, using polystyrene (PS) with a series of molar masses on sapphire substrates. By plotting the integrated SFG intensity as a function of the annealing time, we found that the inner irreversibly adsorbed layer had two segmental evolution processes (replacement and local structural relaxation), and the outer loosely adsorbed layer had the monotonical evolution dynamics (structural relaxation), with both evolving toward the dissipation of the interfacial molecular order of the backbones. A critical evolution time was defined for the inner irreversibly adsorbed layer, and a characteristic relaxation time was defined for the outer loosely adsorbed layer. With respect to the molar mass, phenomenologically, both the critical evolution time and the characteristic relaxation time show an asymptotic increase. In summary, this SFG investigation provides the first-hand experimental data on understanding the structural evolution dynamics of the interfacial adsorbed polymer chains, which would gradually split up into the irreversibly adsorbed layer and loosely adsorbed layer upon annealing.

Detecting weak signals from interfaces by high accuracy phase-resolved SFG spectroscopy

Phase-resolved, collinear, time domain SFG spectrometer for the detection of weak vibrational signals from interfaces.

Structural Reorganization and Fibrinogen Adsorption Behaviors on the Polyrotaxane Surfaces Investigated by Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

Polyrotaxanes, such as supramolecular assemblies with methylated α-cyclodextrins (α-CDs) as host molecules noncovalently threaded on the linear polymer backbone, are promising materials for biomedical applications because they allow adsorbed proteins possessing a high surface flexibility as well as control of the cellular morphology and adhesion. To provide a general design principle for biomedical materials, we examined the surface reorganization behaviors and adsorption conformations of fibrinogen on the polyrotaxane surfaces with comparison to several random copolymers by sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy. We showed that the polyrotaxane (OMe-PRX-PMB) with methylated α-CDs as the host molecule exhibited unique surface structures in an aqueous environment. The hydrophobic interaction between the methoxy groups of the methylated α-CD molecules and methyl groups of the n-butyl methacrylate (BMA) side chains may dominate the surface restructuring behavior of the OMe-PRX-PMB. The orientation analysis revealed that the orientation of the fibrinogen adsorbed on the OMe-PRX-PMB surface is close to a single distribution, which is different from the adsorption behaviors of fibrinogen on other polyrotaxane or random copolymer surfaces.

Conformation of Capping Ligands on Nanoplates: Facet-Edge-Induced Disorder and Self-Assembly-Related Ordering Revealed by Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

Surface-curvature-amplified conformational disorder in alkyl capping ligands has been observed previously when the nanoparticle radii approach the ligand length. Herein, sum frequency generation studies on oleic-acid-capped nanoplates show that even on faceted surfaces with dimensions tens of times greater than the ligand length a significant proportion of gauche defects exist in the capping layer. The molecular disorder on the nanosized facets is attributed to a facet-edge effect, which is diminished when increasing the facet size or assembling the nanofacets side to side. This feature is further explored to probe the self-assembly dynamics of nanoplates.

Structure and stability studies of mixed monolayers of saturated and unsaturated phospholipids under low-level ozone

In the present study, stability and structure of single and binary mixed monolayers of an unsaturated phospholipid, DOPC, and a saturated phospholipid, DPPC-d75, on the water surface, were explored using the π-A isotherm, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy in various environments. Our results demonstrated that DOPC in the monolayers becomes unstable after the exposure to a low concentration of ozone (20 ± 10 ppb) or even to ambient laboratory air, which has a similar ozone level, but is stable in nitrogen or oxygen. DOPC can be selectively oxidized by a trace amount of ozone in the ambient environment but can be partially inhibited by the presence of DPPC in the monolayer. The present study provides useful information for understanding the physicochemical properties of the cell membranes.

Adsorption of 1- and 2-butylimidazoles at the copper/air and steel/air interfaces studied by sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy

The structure of thin films of 1- and 2-butylimidazoles adsorbed on copper and steel surfaces under air was examined using sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy in the ppp and ssp polarizations. Additionally, the SFG spectra of both isomers were recorded at 55 °C at the liquid imidazole/air interface for reference. Complementary bulk infrared, reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS), and Raman spectra of both imidazoles were recorded for assignment purposes. The SFG spectra in the C-H stretching region at the liquid/air interface are dominated by resonances from the methyl end group of the butyl side chain of the imidazoles, indicating that they are aligned parallel or closely parallel to the surface normal. These are also the most prominent features in the SFG spectra on copper and steel. In addition, both the ppp and ssp spectra on copper show resonances from the C-H stretching modes of the imidazole ring for both isomers. The ring C-H resonances are completely absent from the spectra on steel and at the liquid/air interface. The relative intensities of the SFG spectra can be interpreted as showing that, on copper, under air, both butylimidazoles are adsorbed with their butyl side chains perpendicular to the interface and with the ring significantly inclined away from the surface plane and toward the surface normal. The SFG spectra of both imidazoles on steel indicate an orientation where the imidazole rings are parallel or nearly parallel to the surface. The weak C-H resonances from the ring at the liquid/air interface suggest that the tilt angle of the ring from the surface normal at this interface is significantly greater than it is on copper.