By using SFVS over the past decade we have been able to make significant progress in characterizing a number of molecular aspects of the mineral/water interface structure involving low atomic number species, including functional groups that terminate surfaces (e.g. hydroxyls and water), sorbed organic molecules, and organization of sorbed molecules into ordered layers. Additionally, we have been able to probe quantitatively the population of protonation states as a function of pH, thereby directly obtaining pka information at individual surface sites. SFVS is a powerful complement to x-ray surface scattering, which yields solid surface structure, but is only weakly sensitive to low atomic number species. In this presentation the SFVS technique will be described using the example of ethanol sorption on corundum, and including commentary about ongoing work on sorption of amino acids. Opportunities and challenges for more general application to mineral-water interfaces will be described.

Sum frequency vibrational spectroscopy (SFVS) at mineral-water interfaces

245th National Meeting (2013)

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